By Jung Min-ho
Dongsuh Food CEO Lee Gwang-bok has been indicted, along with four other executives and company workers, on charges of knowingly selling tainted cereals, the prosecution said Sunday.
This is the first time that the head of a major food company has been put on trial in connection with a food fraud case here.
According to the Seoul Western District Prosecutor's Office, the company mixed 42 tons of cereals containing coliform bacteria with new cereal to make products worth 2.8 billion won ($2.5 million) from April of 2012 to May.
The products are Almond Flakes, Oreo O's, Granola Papaya Coconut, Nut Crunch and Granola Cranberry Almond.
They claimed that each product had only 10 percent of the contaminated cereals, the prosecution said.
Since 2008, Korean law has required food companies to check the quality of their products regularly to avoid criminal punishment.
If they discover any defects, they must report to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety after recalling all the products in question.
Prosecutors also found that the company violated the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, known as HACCP, in manufacturing its products. To keep the HACCP status, food companies must ensure their products are made to a high standard.
Last month, the food ministry said it examined 139 samples of 18 cereal products made at a factory in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, and found no coliform bacteria.
However, even if coliform bacteria were killed during reprocessing, eating the products could still be risky as they might contain other harmful substances, the prosecution said.
Along with sexual violence, domestic violence and school violence, unsafe food is one of the "four major social evils" that President Park Geun-hye pledged to eradicate.
"We will continue to look closely at unlawful acts in food industry," the prosecution said.
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| Lee Gwang-bok |
This is the first time that the head of a major food company has been put on trial in connection with a food fraud case here.
According to the Seoul Western District Prosecutor's Office, the company mixed 42 tons of cereals containing coliform bacteria with new cereal to make products worth 2.8 billion won ($2.5 million) from April of 2012 to May.
The products are Almond Flakes, Oreo O's, Granola Papaya Coconut, Nut Crunch and Granola Cranberry Almond.
They claimed that each product had only 10 percent of the contaminated cereals, the prosecution said.
Since 2008, Korean law has required food companies to check the quality of their products regularly to avoid criminal punishment.
If they discover any defects, they must report to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety after recalling all the products in question.
Prosecutors also found that the company violated the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point, known as HACCP, in manufacturing its products. To keep the HACCP status, food companies must ensure their products are made to a high standard.
Last month, the food ministry said it examined 139 samples of 18 cereal products made at a factory in Jincheon, North Chungcheong Province, and found no coliform bacteria.
However, even if coliform bacteria were killed during reprocessing, eating the products could still be risky as they might contain other harmful substances, the prosecution said.
Along with sexual violence, domestic violence and school violence, unsafe food is one of the "four major social evils" that President Park Geun-hye pledged to eradicate.
"We will continue to look closely at unlawful acts in food industry," the prosecution said.
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