Distributor Caught Selling 80,000 Masks with Tampered Expiration Dates

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety: Distributor Deceived Manufacturer to Divert Expired KF94 Masks
Distributor and Equipment Facility Operator Referred to Prosecution

A distributor was caught selling more than 80,000 health masks (KF94) after tampering with their expiration dates.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety held a briefing at the Seoul Regional Office on April 16 and announced that it had referred one mask distributor and one mask equipment facility operator to the prosecution on charges of violating the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. They allegedly extended and altered the expiration dates of 82,000 health masks, which could not be distributed or sold because their expiration dates had passed, by about three years and distributed them on the market.

The Metropolitan Food and Drug Crime Investigation Task Force of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety launched an investigation last month after obtaining distribution information about health masks suspected of having falsified expiration dates. The task force tracked the distribution chain, apprehended the two suspects, and seized 55,000 health masks with extended or altered expiration dates, thereby blocking their distribution.

The investigation found that in January of last year, these individuals deceived a quasi-drug manufacturer by claiming they would dispose of all 82,000 health masks, acquired them free of charge, and then distributed the masks to a warehouse rented by the mask equipment facility operator in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province. Until February of the same year, they erased the expiration dates printed on the mask packages using chemicals at the warehouse and then reprinted new expiration dates, extending them to March 25, 2028, thereby extending and falsifying the expiration dates by about three years before distributing them on the market.

It was also confirmed that they deleted all the original manufacturing numbers while falsifying the expiration dates of the health masks.

According to Article 60, Item 1 and Article 66 of the Pharmaceutical Affairs Act, false information regarding quasi-drugs must not be written on the containers or packaging of such products.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated, "The particle-blocking performance of health masks is only valid within the approved expiration date," and added, "As in this case, the performance of health masks past their expiration date cannot be guaranteed. If you suspect that the expiration date or other information has been falsified, please verify the approval details with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety."

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