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| Dongsuh Food's four cereal products, including Post Almond Flakes, have been banned by the government after colon bacillus was detected among some samples of the products. The "cereal scandal" has forced the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to run the gauntlet for its lax regulation. / Yonhap |
By Jung Min-ho
The recent allegations that major food firms Dongsuh Food and Crown Confectionery knowingly sold contaminated products have cast doubts on the government's safety monitoring system.
Critics say it has been "too lenient" toward firms that have violated safety standards, putting their interests ahead of protecting public health.
Under Korean law, food companies have to check the quality of their products regularly to avoid heavy criminal punishment. However, if they find any problem, hiding it could be more economical because the penalty for the omission of a report is merely a fine of 3 million won ($2,800).
And that's exactly what some companies choose to do.
Last week, the government banned the sale of Dongsuh Food's popular cereal products, including Post Almond Flakes, after colon bacillus was detected among some samples of the products. The firm is suspected of knowingly reused contaminated cereals in new products.
This comes only five days after the prosecution indicted officials at Crown Confectionery, another large food maker, for knowingly selling organic snacks with high levels of harmful germs for over five years.
The "cereal scandals" have forced many consumers to ponder whether the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is breaking its commitment to "ensuring the safety of the people" for the convenience of the companies and itself.
In fact, it doesn't take an economist to think that the companies made a rational decision to hide their criminal act.
In 2008, the ministry introduced a regulation that allows food companies to self-check their products regularly once they pass the initial examination by the ministry. It stipulates that they have to report any serious problem to the ministry immediately and discard the products in question.
But it took less than a year for Crown Confectionery to allegedly take advantage of the new rule.
The company found that two of its organic wafer products had high levels of harmful germs through its own quality control examinations made in early 2009. The firm then concealed the findings and sold about 1 million boxes of the products through August of this year.
If any company violates the regulation, it is fined 3 million won and the product in question cannot be produced for a month. Even if the company does it again, what it gets is the same fine and a three-month halt in production of the product.
The obvious regulation loophole poses great health risk to the public since the two companies involved in the recent scandal may not be the only ones.
A ministry official said it will come up with a solution to improve the regulation following a request from the prosecution.
