Gangwon Province will conduct intensive inspections of its livestock distribution chain for three months starting in July, as the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has issued a Salmonella warning for eggs and mandated self-inspection by retailers, with health officials urging the public to eat only fully cooked eggs from this month onward.
Provincial authorities said any deliberate or repeat violations uncovered during the inspections — including poor hygiene practices — will be met with strict administrative penalties under relevant laws, and any noncompliant products will be immediately seized and destroyed to prevent them from reaching the market.
Gangwon Province said it will carry out intensive hygiene inspections and sampling tests targeting businesses that handle edible eggs at the retail distribution level, running from July 6 through Sept. 30, to ensure a safe supply of livestock products.
The inspections will cover 104 egg-handling facilities in the province — 34 egg-sorting and packaging operations and 70 egg collection and sales businesses — chosen in light of eggs' susceptibility to spoilage at room temperature during summer.
To enhance transparency and fairness, the inspections will be conducted as a joint public-private effort involving honorary livestock hygiene inspectors drawn from consumer groups.
Inspectors will check compliance with the Livestock Products Sanitary Control Act and the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Food Products. In parallel, the provincial animal health laboratory will randomly collect 45 samples of eggs in circulation — 15 from sorting and packaging operations and 30 from collection and sales businesses — and test them for Salmonella and antibiotic residues.
Jeon Jae-seop, director of the provincial agriculture bureau, said the risk of food poisoning from egg Salmonella rises sharply in summer, making rigorous hygiene management from production through retail critically important. "These proactive inspections and sampling tests are aimed at creating an environment where residents can consume eggs with confidence," he said.
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