MFDS Conducts Hygiene Inspections of Packaged Pork and Beef Companies Ahead of Seollal

Deputy Director Kwon Oh-sang of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety visiting the site for packaged meat safety management in preparation for the Lunar New Year holiday

[Asia Economy Reporter Byeon Seon-jin] The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 6th that it visited meat packaging processing companies to inspect hygiene management practices in order to strengthen the safety management of packaged meats such as pork and beef ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

This visit was arranged to inspect the hygiene management status of packaged meats produced by companies certified under the Livestock Products Safety Management Certification Standards (HACCP) and to hear opinions from the field, as the mandatory application of HACCP certification for meat packaging processing companies is being phased in starting this year. According to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, as of 2020, meat packaging processing companies with sales of 2 billion KRW or more are required to obtain HACCP certification starting this year. Those with sales of 500 million KRW or more will be required to comply from 2025, those with 100 million KRW or more from 2027, and other businesses from 2029.

On this day, Kwon Oh-sang, Deputy Director, visited the Emart Meat Center in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province, and inspected ▲ hygienic handling of meat ▲ safety management status of packaging and processing facilities ▲ compliance with storage and distribution temperatures, stating, “As the annual per capita meat consumption and production volume of packaged meats continue to increase steadily, the importance of safety management for livestock products is growing. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety expects that the mandatory application of HACCP certification for meat packaging processing companies, which is being phased in starting this year, will further improve the hygiene management level of livestock products. We also hope the industry will actively cooperate to ensure the stable establishment of the system.”

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety emphasized, “We will continue to strengthen safety management of livestock products so that the public can consume them with confidence,” and added, “We will actively communicate with the industry and boldly improve unnecessary regulations that are not directly related to safety to revitalize the industry.”