Meal Kits, Enjoy with Confidence! ... Ulsan City Mandates Self-Quality Inspection for Meat Easy-Cook Sets Starting This Year

Processing and Packaging Industry: At Least Once a Month, Instant Sales Processing Industry: At Least Once Every 9 Months

Ulsan City Hall.

[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Seryeong] The Ulsan City Health and Environment Research Institute will conduct a 'Self-Quality Inspection of Meat Easy Cooking Sets' starting this year.

Meat easy cooking sets are a type of livestock product that emerged due to changes in consumption patterns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, with increased demand for meal packages, also known as 'Baro Yori Sets (Meal Kits)'.

Meal kits are products that provide pre-prepared ingredients, appropriate amounts of seasonings, and recipes as a set, allowing consumers to cook refrigerated ingredients themselves before eating.

They are cheaper than dining out and save time on purchasing and preparing ingredients, making them increasingly popular among single-person households, dual-income families, and during times when going out is difficult due to restrictions on the number of people.

A type of meal kit, the meat easy cooking set, consists mainly of meat or processed meat products as the main ingredient, combined with unprocessed seafood and processed foods as secondary ingredients. It is designed for consumers to easily cook and consume according to the provided recipes.

In 2021, amendments to the 'Livestock Products Hygiene Control Act Enforcement Decree' and the 'Food Standards and Specifications Notice' established regulations for self-quality inspection of meat easy cooking sets.

Operators of meat processing and meat packaging businesses must test for Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli at least once a month for each item, while operators of meat instant sales processing businesses must conduct these tests at least once every nine months for each item.

Last year, the Health and Environment Research Institute reported that all 272 self-quality inspections and 321 distribution livestock product sampling inspections conducted for safety testing of distributed livestock products were judged 'suitable.'

A representative of the Health and Environment Research Institute stated, “We will strengthen the self-quality inspection of meat easy cooking sets and safety inspections of distributed livestock products to ensure that citizens can trust and safely consume livestock products.”