By Jhoo Dong-chan
Japanese cookies and snacks are being imported illegally and sold without proper safety checks, prosecutors said Friday.
The Busan District Prosecutors’ Office recently inspected 20 stores in the city selling Japanese cookies and snacks. Seven stores were found to have been selling Japanese cookies smuggled into the country without customs clearance and adequate safety inspections, the prosecution said.
The stores will be fined if found guilty.
The prosecution is expanding its investigation into smugglers who may have provided the cookies and snacks to stores in other cities.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety requires all food and drugs to go through customs for inspection to make sure the imports do not contain prohibited additives or radioactive materials.
The government strengthened its inspections of Japanese food imports after radioactive materials leaked from a nuclear plant in Fukushima in 2011. The disaster prompted public concerns over possible radioactive contamination.
Nonetheless, some Japanese cookie brands, including Garucook, are gaining popularity among young students here.
“About 100,000 people have bought Japanese food from our site every year even after the earthquake,” said an online dealer in Japanese food. “We now supply our products to 2,500 retail cookie stores in the country.”
A ministry official said it was hard to trace all Japanese food being sold here because of increased direct buying from foreign online stores.
“They come in small quantities and don’t go through the customs,” the official said.