By Kang Shin-who
Staff Reporter
Lotte Confectionery, a unit of Lotte Group, is suspected of having attempted to cover up the discovery of a foreign substance in one of its snacks by bribing a consumer.
According to the Korea Food and Drug Administration (KFDA), Wednesday, a customer in Seoul last week found a rusty 10 won coin in Lotte snack ``Oh! Good Cereal Chocolate’’ and reported it to the company the following day.
However, Lotte delayed reporting it to the food authority for five days. Under the food safety law, companies should report to the authority immediately after they receive a complaint regarding foreign substances in their food products.
On top of the negligence in reporting, the company allegedly offered a bribe to the customer in an apparent bid to cover it up. The company reportedly tried to hand 500,000 won ($500) to keep the find being revealed to the public.
A Lotte official was caught by a KBS TV camera giving the money to the customer at the scene. Lotte is claiming that it tried to give the money to retrieve the product containing the foreign substance at the earliest possible time. Its report to the food agency was also made after KBS aired it Tuesday.
The food authority is investigating the allegations.It’s the latest in a series of findings of foreign substances in foods. Last March, part of a small rodent was found in a bag of the popular snack, Saewookkang, manufactured by the nation’s leading snack maker Nongshim. A few days after the case, a knife blade was found in a Dongwon F&B canned tuna container.