Old rice disguised as 'Haepssal'... 33 locations caught in fraudulent grain distribution

Nonggwanwon Criminally Charges 15 Sites for False Labeling and Fines 8.23 Million Won Imposed on 18 Sites for Non-Compliance with Mandatory Labeling
Special Crackdown to Continue During Next Year's Seollal

A company that falsely labeled old rice as new rice or misrepresented production dates, milling dates, varieties, and grades has been criminally charged.

The National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service announced on the 26th the results of a special inspection on fraudulent distribution of grains conducted from September 18th, timed with the new rice shipping season.

Officials from the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service are conducting a special inspection on the illegal distribution of grains.

A total of 3,717 personnel, including special judicial police officers and honorary monitors from the Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, participated in this special inspection, which will continue until the end of this month. Approximately 6,000 locations nationwide, including grain processing companies, sales companies, and repackaging companies, were primarily inspected for violations of mandatory grain labeling items such as production year, milling date, variety, and grade.

During this inspection, the Agricultural Products Quality Management Service identified 33 fraudulent distribution companies, criminally charging 15 companies and imposing fines on 18 companies. Companies that falsely labeled old rice as new rice or misrepresented production dates, milling dates, varieties, and grades were criminally charged, and companies that failed to label production year and milling date were fined a total of 8.23 million KRW.

Park Seong-woo, head of the Agricultural Products Quality Management Service, stated, "We were able to enhance the effectiveness of crackdowns by applying scientific analysis methods such as DNA testing to prevent fraudulent grain distribution," and added, "During the upcoming Seol holiday, we plan to conduct special inspections on origin and grain labeling for companies handling imported rice, rice cake processing companies, and other manufacturers and sellers of Seol seasonal products."