Gyeonggi-do Health and Environment Research Institute to Conduct Sensory Tests on Herbal Medicine Starting April

Gyeonggi Province will conduct sensory inspections of herbal medicines starting in April.

Sensory inspection is a test conducted by comprehensively evaluating the shape, color, smell, taste, presence of foreign substances, drying, and packaging conditions of medicinal materials according to the "Korean Pharmacopoeia" and the "Korean Pharmacopoeia for External Herbal (Medicinal) Materials," to determine their suitability.

The Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment announced on the 31st that it will carry out the "2025 Herbal Medicine Sensory Inspection" from April to block low-quality products in advance, improve the distribution environment, and ensure the quality and safety of herbal medicines distributed so that residents can use herbal medicines with confidence.

The Institute evaluates the external appearance criteria called "seongsang," and if the herbal medicine does not meet these criteria, it is judged as nonconforming due to violation of the "seongsang" standards.

The Institute also strengthens the safety of herbal medicines by conducting tests for harmful substances such as heavy metals (lead, arsenic, cadmium) and sulfur dioxide. Six external experts, including licensed oriental medicine doctors, pharmacists, and herbal medicine pharmacists, participate as sensory inspection committee members in accordance with relevant laws to enhance the objectivity and professionalism of the evaluation.

Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment is conducting sensory evaluation of herbal medicine. Photo by Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment

This year, sensory inspections and harmful substance tests will be conducted on a total of 150 distributed herbal medicine samples. Items judged as nonconforming will have their distribution immediately blocked, and prompt administrative actions such as recall and disposal will be implemented.

In the sensory inspection conducted for the first time last year, 6 out of 150 herbal medicine samples, including Jaso-yeop, Duchung, and Banha, failed to meet the seongsang criteria and were judged as nonconforming. The distribution of these items was immediately blocked, and recall and administrative measures were taken.

Kim Ki-cheol, head of the Food and Drug Research Department at the Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment, said, "Since herbal medicines are medicinal resources directly consumed by residents, thorough quality control is essential. We will continue to strengthen the scientific and professional inspection system to create a distribution environment for herbal medicines that residents can trust."

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