122 Food Manufacturers and Sellers Violated Regulations Ahead of Seollal for Ritual and Gift Items

MFDS Inspects 5,436 Lunar New Year Seasonal Food Sites
Administrative Actions, Recalls, and Disposal for Violating Companies

A total of 122 companies manufacturing and selling 'tteok, hangwa, health functional foods, livestock products, and traditional liquor,' which are in high demand as gifts and ritual foods for the Lunar New Year holiday, were found to have violated the Food Sanitation Act and Livestock Products Sanitation Control Act.

On the 7th, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that it conducted a joint inspection with 17 local governments targeting 5,436 companies from the 15th to the 19th of last month to ensure the safety management of Lunar New Year seasonal foods. As a result, these violations were detected, and administrative actions were requested from the relevant local governments.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety reported that after collecting and inspecting holiday gift and ritual foods and conducting detailed inspections at the customs clearance stage, the following violations were found in the food sector (processed foods, health functional foods, etc.): 37 companies failed to conduct health checks, 18 violated hygienic handling standards, 13 violated business operator compliance requirements, 8 violated self-quality inspection rules, 4 violated labeling standards, and 10 had other violations.

In the livestock products sector, violations included 7 companies failing to conduct health checks, 7 violating business operator compliance requirements, 4 failing to conduct hygiene education, 3 violating self-quality inspection rules, 3 violating internal hygiene management standards, 3 violating labeling standards, 2 selling livestock products past their consumption date, and 3 other violations.

The Ministry collected a total of 2,362 samples of domestically distributed products, including processed foods such as hangwa, mandu, and traditional liquor; prepared foods such as tteok, jeon, and fried foods; and agricultural, livestock, and marine products. Focused tests for residual pesticides, heavy metals, and food poisoning bacteria were conducted. Of the 1,671 samples tested so far, all met the standards and specifications except for one, which was deemed non-compliant and will be subject to administrative action and disposal by the relevant authorities.

At the customs clearance stage, detailed inspections were conducted on 736 samples, including processed foods such as boiled gosari (bracken fern), agricultural, livestock, and marine products such as peeled doraji (bellflower root), peeled chestnuts, seasoned meat, pollock, and shrimp, as well as health functional foods like vitamins and minerals. Of the 628 samples tested so far, all met the standards except for two, which were found non-compliant and will be returned to the exporting country or disposed of. These products were found to exceed the standard limits for residual pesticides (ethoxyquin) and heavy metals (arsenic), respectively.

Companies found violating regulations during this inspection will be re-inspected within six months by the relevant local food and drug offices or local governments to verify improvements. Imported foods found non-compliant during customs inspections will undergo detailed inspections (five consecutive times) if the same products are imported in the future.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.