As Iberico pork from Spain is gaining popularity in South Korea, some stores have been ‘disguising’ pork as having come from Spain. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, May 2 (Korea Bizwire) – The National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service said on Wednesday that it has recently cracked down on 132 manufacturers and distributors of pork and kimchi that have violated rules on country of origin labeling.
Out of 10,732 vendors that handle pork and kimchi across the country, the agency found 114 stores that faked the country of origin of their products, and 18 stores that failed to disclose any information on the country of origin.
The agency will transfer the cases in which the country of origin was falsified to the prosecution, while fining the stores that did not disclose the country of origin.
As Iberico pork from Spain is gaining popularity in South Korea, some stores have been ‘disguising’ pork as having come from Spain, while others falsely claimed that their Chinese kimchi was actually ‘made in Korea.’
The agency also conducted joint inspections with the Korea Pork Producers Association on 359 vendors that sell Iberico pork, two of which provided false country of origin information, and one store that failed to disclose any country of origin.
“As demand for pork and kimchi is rising, we will conduct stricter inspections so that consumers can trust the country of origin provided,” said the agency.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
