Food poisoning cases surpass 2024 total in just 8 months amid extreme heat wave

Citizens walk past cooling fog at Seoul Plaza in downtown Seoul, July 2, as heat wave alerts were issued across the country. Korea Times photo by Nam Dong-kyun

The number of food poisoning cases reported in South Korea in the January-August period already exceeded the total figure for 2024, government data showed Monday, with experts pointing to extreme heat waves as a major factor.

A total of 7,884 patients were recorded in the first eight months of this year, surpassing last year's overall figure of 7,624, according to documents submitted by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to Rep. Han Ji-a of the main opposition People Power Party.

By pathogen, norovirus accounted for the largest share with 2,308 cases, or 29.3 percent, followed by salmonella with 825 cases, or 10.5 percent.

The increase was particularly notable in group catering facilities, such as schools and child care centers. The number of cases in elementary, middle and high schools stood at 2,066 in the eight-month period, up 39 percent from 1,482 for all of last year.

Child care centers saw infections jump more than 17 times to 810 from 47 over the cited period, while cases in kindergartens more than tripled to 370 from 112.

Experts say the sharp rise is closely related to extreme heat.

According to a report released by the Korea Development Institute (KDI), a 1 degree Celsius rise in temperature leads to about a 47 percent increase in salmonella cases.

"With the risk of food poisoning incidents significantly increasing due to the intensifying summer heat waves caused by climate change, the government needs to prepare comprehensive food safety measures in response to climate change," Han said.