11 companies were caught mixing cheap Chinese-made dadaegi (Korean chili powder with sediments) and red pepper seed powder to deceive customers by selling them as “Chili Powder 100%.” The Korea Food and Drug Administration has reported 11 companies and 17 individuals, including the company management, for violations of food hygiene laws for falsely selling products mixed with dadaegi and red pepper seed powder as chili powder 100%.
According to the regulations of the Korean Food and Drug Administration, adding substances other than red chili seeds when making chili powder is prohibited, but these companies did so in order to reduce costs.
After catching one company in November last year, the Korea Food and Drug Administration investigated 10 more companies for selling cheap chili powder through online shopping malls. Out of 45 chili powder products from 40 companies, 12 products from 10 companies were found to contain ingredients such as onion, radish, and garlic genes that are typically found in dadaegi.
The first company caught was found to have sold around 557 tons of fake chili powder, worth approximately 8 billion won, from June 2021 to December last year. This company used Chinese compressed dadaegi, in which the pesticide ‘chloromethyl’ was found to be detected at around double the standard level.
During the investigation, it was revealed that this company disposed of 1.4 tons of Chinese-made compressed dadaegi as waste, falsely reported it to the authorities, and then diverted 3.5 million won by giving it to a waste disposal company in order to use the dadaegi. Ten other companies were also found to have collectively sold around 284 tons of fake chili powder, amounting to around 23 billion won, using similar methods.