Violation of the Food Labeling and Advertising Act
Similar Controversies Have Occurred in the Past
Baek Jong-won, CEO of The Born Korea, who has recently been embroiled in various controversies, has finally been booked by the police. The charge is a violation of the Food Labeling and Advertising Act related to false advertising of the origin of products from 'Paik's Coffee' (Baekdabang).
On the 21st, the Gangnam Police Station in Seoul announced that they had received a complaint through the National Petition System alleging that Baek's Paik's Coffee misled consumers about the origin of its new product in its promotional materials.
According to the complaint, Paik's Coffee promoted its "Chewy Sweet Potato Bread" on Instagram in January last year with the phrase "Our agricultural products, our Paik's Coffee," but another advertisement stated that "some Chinese sweet potatoes are included." The complainant argued that Paik's Coffee intentionally omitted the "Chinese origin" label in the advertisement, leading consumers to mistakenly believe the product was made from domestic agricultural products.
Similar criticisms had been raised earlier. In July last year, Baek Jong-won introduced his meal kit brand 'Paik Cook'’s chicken steak on his YouTube channel, saying, "We created this to help agricultural, fishery, and livestock products that are not selling well or are overproduced." He promoted it with the premise of supporting domestic farms.
However, the origin of the main ingredient (97.81%) of the 'Paik Cook Chicken Steak' listed on The Born Mall was Brazilian for the 'salted chicken meat.' Most of the braised sauce also used foreign ingredients, including those from Australia and China.
Two Apology Statements Posted in One Week Amid Ongoing Controversies
The controversies did not end there. On the 19th, The Born Korea decided to halt production of the canned processed meat product 'Paik Ham' due to controversies over pork content and pricing. They posted an apology stating, "We have stopped production of Paik Ham, which many people have pointed out," and "We are developing new products that meet customers' expectations in taste and quality."
This apology came just six days after an earlier apology was posted on the official website on the 13th. On that day, Baek said, "I sincerely apologize for causing concern to many people due to various issues related to The Born Korea, where I am the CEO. We should have repaid the love and support we received with better appearances and products, but we fell short of those expectations."
Currently, Baek is also embroiled in controversies regarding the juice content of Gamgyul Oreum beer, allegations of LPG gas safety regulation violations, and suspicions of violating farmland laws at the Baekseok factory.
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