"Caution for Convenience Store Sandwiches"… Company Caught Falsifying Manufacturing Dates

A Company Falsely Marking 'Manufacture Date' of Friday-Made Products as Weekend Production
...Caught by MFDS

Products with false manufacturing date labeling. [Photo by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety]

A manufacturer was caught supplying convenience stores with products falsely labeled as being produced on Saturday or Sunday, when they were actually made on Friday.

On the 28th, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) announced that SLB Korea, a food manufacturing and processing company located in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, was found to have violated the "Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods" and the "Food Sanitation Act" by falsely labeling the manufacturing dates of ready-to-eat sandwiches. The company falsely labeled sandwiches produced on Fridays, the 16th and 23rd, as having been manufactured one to two days later, on Saturday or Sunday (the 17th, 18th, 24th, and 25th). Subsequently, approximately 9,300 of these sandwich products were sold through convenience stores such as GS25 and Emart24. This quantity corresponds to about 10 million KRW in value.

The "Violation (Seized) Product Status" released by the MFDS included 13 types of ready-to-eat foods: "Taiwanese Egg Mayo & Potato," "Taiwanese Ham Cheese Sandwich," "Spicy Bulgogi Sandwich," "Basil Ham Cheese Sandwich," "Egg Ham Cheese Pastry," "Chili Crab Sandwich," "Double Egg Sandwich," "Whole Wheat Egg Deluxe," "Ham Crab Stick Sandwich," "Corn Deluxe," "Rye Egg Chicken Breast Sandwich," "Garlic Ham Sandwich," and "Smoked Bacon Sandwich."

Status of Seized (Confiscated) Products.
[Photo by Ministry of Food and Drug Safety]

The MFDS also revealed that the company failed to prepare production and work records related to sandwich manufacturing, as well as raw material inventory documents. Additionally, during the inspection, a total of 16,995 sandwiches of the 13 types with falsely labeled manufacturing dates, stored for sale, were seized on-site. The MFDS requested administrative action from the relevant local government and filed a complaint against SLB Korea.

The MFDS stated, "We will continue to thoroughly manage and strictly take action against false or exaggerated labeling or advertising in food manufacturing and sales to create a safe food environment." If you witness illegal food-related activities, you can report them by calling the defective food report hotline (1399) or by using the mandatory food safety information app "Naesonan" on your smartphone.