"Selling Hong Sam" Lunar New Year Gift Secondhand Trade, Risk of 50 Million Won Fine Bombardment

Health Functional Food Fines Up to 50 Million Won
Check Certification Marks on Product Packaging

With the Lunar New Year holiday approaching, gift set transactions are becoming active on online secondhand trading platforms. However, selling health functional foods such as red ginseng and collagen through peer-to-peer secondhand transactions is illegal, so special caution is required.

On the 18th, many posts reselling holiday gifts such as red ginseng slices, red ginseng pills, and red ginseng drinks were posted on secondhand trading platforms like Danggeun Market, Bungaejangter, and Junggonara. Drinking collagen, vitamins, and probiotics are also listed.

Used ginseng product sales post uploaded on a secondhand trading platform [Photo by secondhand trading platform capture]

According to the Health Functional Foods Act, only registered health functional food sellers can sell health and functional foods online. Health functional food sellers must have the relevant facilities and report their business to the head of the local government. Violating this can result in imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million KRW. Free giveaways are also considered business activities.

Even for the same red ginseng products, there are health functional foods and general foods. For example, among representative red ginseng products, red ginseng candy or red ginseng jelly are classified as general foods. Although they contain the functional ingredient red ginseng, health functional foods are products made according to certain regulations and procedures, resulting in differences in efficacy.

The way to distinguish them is simple. Check the health functional food certification mark on the product packaging. If this mark is present, it is a health functional food; if not, it is a general food. Products with the health functional food mark should not be sold in secondhand transactions.

Health Functional Food Mark of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. [Image provided by MFDS]

Most online secondhand trading platforms prohibit the trade of health functional foods, but they cannot monitor all items. Besides health functional foods, promotional cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, homemade foods, veterinary medicines, volume-based waste disposal bags, medical devices, vision correction products, and duty-free goods should also not be traded online secondhand.

The Korea Consumer Agency monitored major secondhand trading apps from May 2021 to April 2022 and found a total of 5,434 distribution posts for nine major prohibited items. Health and functional foods accounted for 5,029 cases, the highest number, followed by promotional cosmetics with 134 cases and pharmaceuticals with 76 cases.

Meanwhile, the active secondhand trading of health and functional foods during the holidays can be interpreted as meaning that many people received unwanted gifts. Regarding troublesome holiday gifts, many posts on the office worker community Blind say things like "Can't they just give money instead?"