[Captured from The Born Korea mall]
[Captured from The Born Korea mall]

The Born Korea, the food and restaurant company led by Baek Jong-won, faces administrative action after its Yeondon Curry product was found to have falsely listed its sugar content on the label.

According to TV Chosun on Tuesday, the agricultural and food distribution division of Goesan-gun in North Chungcheong Province ruled the 200-gram Yeondon Curry product — distributed by The Born Korea and manufactured by a food company based in Goesan-gun — non-compliant for violating nutrition labeling regulations.

The nutrition information panel on the back of the product's packaging listed sugar content as 0 grams, even though the ingredients included onions, sugar and corn syrup. A consumer complaint raised suspicions about the discrepancy, which led to the false labeling being confirmed.

Goesan-gun collected the product on Aug. 25 and sent it to the North Chungcheong Institute of Health and Environment for ingredient analysis. Test results showed the actual measured sugar content exceeded the legally permitted margin of error relative to the declared amount of zero grams. Under current regulations, a product may only be labeled as containing 0 grams of sugar if the amount is less than 0.5 grams per 100 grams.

"It is correct that the product was ruled non-compliant after the collected sample tested above the margin of error for sugar content," a Goesan-gun official said, adding that a mandatory recall was not required. The official said the county had notified the company of the violation and instructed it to halt sales on its own and take corrective measures, such as reprinting the packaging or attaching correction stickers.


123@heraldcorp.com