Gyeonggi-do 'Food Safety Guardians' Detected 15 Non-compliant Food Cases Last Year

Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment Conducts 818 Food Safety Inspections
15 Administrative Actions Taken...
Information on Non-compliant Products Posted on Institute Website

Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment announced on the 9th that it detected 15 cases of non-compliant food and took administrative actions through last year's "Food Safety Keeper" project.

Gyeonggi Provincial Government Building. Provided by Gyeonggi Province

Started in 2007, the "Food Safety Keeper" project is based on the testing and inspection experience of the Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment, where researchers directly collect food and conduct safety inspections. The inspection targets include ▲foods suspected of non-compliance ▲food distributed in hygiene-vulnerable areas ▲online distributed food ▲food reported in the media, among others.

The total number of inspections conducted last year was 818, with detailed categories including 405 food items, 167 food utensils and containers/packaging and hygiene products, 167 genetically modified foods, and 79 radiation tests.

The inspection results identified 15 cases of non-compliant foods and food utensils, including ▲5 cases of candy products with insufficient content ▲3 cases of candy products exceeding sugar content ▲2 cases of powder exceeding metal foreign substance standards ▲2 cases of soy sauce with insufficient total nitrogen ▲1 case of honey exceeding sucrose ▲1 case of honey exceeding hydroxymethylfurfural ▲1 case of sesame oil exceeding linolenic acid ▲1 case of PP cups exceeding total elution amount.

The Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment immediately handled the non-compliant products to prevent their distribution in the market through the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety’s "Non-compliant Food Emergency Notification System," and posted the relevant information on the Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment website for easy access by residents.

Regarding the recently high-interest radiation and genetically modified food inspection results, all were confirmed to be within standards and thus safe.

The Gyeonggi-do Institute of Health and Environment plans to strengthen hazard item inspections focusing on foods and sales locations with a high possibility of non-compliance to ensure safe food for residents.