Daily Milk Contaminated with Cleaning Water... MFDS: "Sterilizer Valve Opened for 1 Second Due to Worker Error"

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) announced that some products of Maeil Dairy's Original Sterilized Milk were contaminated with cleaning water, which is presumed to have occurred due to a worker's mistake.

On the 17th, the MFDS conducted an on-site investigation at Maeil Dairy's Gwangju factory and Gwangju Metropolitan City, simultaneously carrying out product recalls, inspections, and an unannounced HACCP evaluation, and released the results of the investigation.

A video posted on an online community. Red liquid is coming out of a Maeil Dairy sterilized milk pack. Screenshot from social networking service (SNS).

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The MFDS explained, "Considering the production time of the affected products, we conducted a full investigation of the production history from July 1st to the present," and "As a result, it was confirmed that at around 3:38 a.m. on September 19th, a sterilizer valve was open for about one second, allowing cleaning water (2.8% sodium hydroxide) to enter the product filling line." They added, "Accordingly, up to about 50 milk products per second may have been affected."

Although the sterilizer is separated from the filling line, it is presumed that during internal cleaning of the sterilizer, a worker's mistake caused the sterilizer valve connected to the filling line to open, allowing cleaning water to flow into the products.

The MFDS stated, "To prevent recurrence, Maeil Dairy's Gwangju factory was instructed to reestablish manufacturing management operation plans, including measures to prevent unintentional valve operation," and "We requested the competent authorities to take administrative actions for violations of the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act. According to Article 33 of the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act, this corresponds to a one-month business suspension and disposal of the affected products. A corrective order was issued for insufficient HACCP verification management."

The MFDS reported that they collected 30 recallable products manufactured on the same production line as the problematic products on different dates, as well as products from other production lines, and conducted appearance and acidity tests, all of which were judged to be suitable.

This cleaning water contamination incident was confirmed after some employees who received Maeil Dairy's Original Sterilized Milk 200ml product as in-house meals at a major corporation's research center on the 12th reported abdominal pain, abnormal odor, and discoloration.

As the controversy grew, Kim Sun-hee, Vice Chairman and CEO of Maeil Dairy, posted an apology on the company's website on the 16th, stating, "It is an unacceptable quality accident that occurred in Maeil Dairy products, which are trusted and consumed for health by everyone from young children to the elderly," and "We sincerely apologize to our customers."

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