Several sushi restaurants have been found guilty of misrepresenting the origin of yellowtail fish. (Image courtesy of Jeju Special Self-governing Province Police Department)
JEJU, Mar. 8 (Korea Bizwire) – On Jeju Island, several sushi restaurants have been found guilty of misrepresenting the origin of yellowtail fish, falsely labeling them as domestically produced instead of their actual Japanese origin.
Jeju’s police force, in a joint crackdown with the National Fisheries Products Quality Management Service’s Jeju branch, identified seven food establishments in violation of origin labeling regulations on March 7.
The establishments, all sushi restaurants, included four in the Jeju City area and three in Seogwipo.
The operation was based on shared information regarding the distribution history of imported Japanese yellowtail, which led to the monitoring of approximately 60 restaurants supplied with the fish, resulting in the identification of the offenders.
Out of the seven, five restaurants were found to have deliberately misrepresented Japanese yellowtail as domestically sourced or labeled the fish in a manner likely to cause confusion. The remaining two were cited for failing to display any country of origin information at all.
The confusion often arose from misleading statements on the menu, such as bold declarations like “Our store uses only domestic live fish” or “Jeju large yellowtail,” which were contradicted by fine print stating “domestic and Japanese.”
The volume of Japanese yellowtail sold by these seven restaurants under false pretenses is estimated to total 4,628 kilograms.
Jeju Large Yellowtail (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
Notably, one restaurant in Jeju City was found to have sold 1,482 kilograms of mislabeled Japanese yellowtail over a five-month period from last October to February of this year.
Jeju police intend to complete investigations of the five establishments involved in false or confusing labeling this week and will refer them to the prosecution.
The two establishments that failed to display any origin information have already been fined by the Jeju branch of the National Fisheries Products Quality Management Service.
Park Sang-hyun, head of the Jeju police force’s investigation department, remarked on the absence of violations at the import and distribution stages but criticized the unethical practices of some final sellers that harmed consumers and honest businesses.
Ha Jung-im, quality control team leader at the Jeju branch of the National Fisheries Products Quality Management Service, highlighted the recent aversion to Japanese seafood products as a contributing factor to these violations and pledged continued collaboration with related agencies to ensure strict adherence to labeling regulations.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
