28 tons of anchovies used as bait distributed to restaurants on Cheju Island = South Korea

The representative of a company that delivered approximately 28 tons of imported frozen anchovies for bait to restaurants on Cheju Island, falsely claiming that they were edible, was arrested.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has banned frozen anchovies from Mexico, which were imported as non-edible, from general restaurants.
It was announced on the 15th that the representative of a seafood distributor that sold seafood for human consumption was arrested on suspicion of violating the Food Sanitation Act and referred to prosecutors.
Prior to this, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that the Jeju branch of the National Seafood Quality Control Agency
The investigation began in December last year after receiving information that there was a seafood distributor that sold imported, non-edible frozen anchovies to general restaurants and retailers.
As a result of the investigation, Company A, a seafood distributor, received non-edible anchovies from Company B for approximately 1 year and 6 months from June 30, 2022 to January 8, 2024.
It was revealed that 907 boxes (28.6 tons) of anchovies were purchased, and 1,865 boxes (28 tons) of the anchovies were distributed to general restaurants in Jeju city under the false pretense that they were edible.
In the case of edible marine products, their safety is guaranteed by inspection for lead, cadmium, mercury, benzopyrene, histamine, etc. during the import declaration process to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.
This poses a problem because non-edible marine products have not undergone import inspection by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and their safety for consumption cannot be confirmed.
In 2016, he was caught selling frozen anchovies produced in Japan falsely as a specialty product of Gijang-gun, Busan.
Escherichia coli and other bacteria were detected in the anchovies. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has issued a warning to general restaurants and retailers that purchased the frozen anchovies that were caught this time to cook the anchovies.
They requested that the product be returned and disposed of immediately without being used. Additionally, measures were taken to require Company A to sell the 42 boxes of non-edible frozen anchovies it was storing for use as feed.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated, ``We will continue to strengthen our supervision and investigation of acts that threaten public health, such as illegal food distribution and sales, and ensure that safer food is available.''
"We plan to do our best to create an environment for manufacturing, distribution, and consumption."