Ministry of Agriculture says defective rice was immediately replaced with normal product at storage facilities
Quality defects were found in about 1 ton of government-managed rice designated for welfare distribution to vulnerable groups this year, according to data obtained from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. The ministry said the defective rice was immediately replaced with normal product and that it is working to improve packaging design.
According to data obtained by Yonhap and Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Moon Dae-rim, a member of the National Assembly's Agriculture, Food, Rural Affairs, Oceans and Fisheries Committee, from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, the ministry officially identified seven quality incidents involving government-managed rice this year — five in Seoul and two in Gyeonggi Province — totaling 1.09 tons. Three of the incidents involved packaging damaged by rats, while the rest involved faulty sealing of packaging materials.
In a press release issued Tuesday, the ministry said welfare rice is supplied at a discount to support the livelihoods of vulnerable groups, with annual distribution reaching around 170,000 tons based on last year's figures. It added that the rice consists of newly harvested grain rated "premium" from that year's crop and undergoes inspection by the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service before shipment.
Regarding the defective rice, the ministry said it "was immediately replaced at the storage facility, and normal product was ultimately delivered to recipients."
The ministry also said it had improved the welfare rice packaging design last year based on a demand survey aimed at providing better consumer-oriented services, but noted that color bleeding had occurred during the rainy season and periods of high humidity, and that it is now pursuing a further redesign.
Meanwhile, the National Agricultural Products Quality Management Service will begin inspections for the purchase of publicly stockpiled rice from the 2026 harvest starting Friday in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province. The inspection covers 400,000 tons of rice, including flour rice. Of that total, 280,000 tons in bagged form will be inspected directly by the service's more than 130 regional offices and branches nationwide. Inspections will be conducted at more than 3,000 sites across the country, allocated by province, and are expected to run through the end of this year.
Ahead of the purchase inspections, the service held a briefing for 134 inspectors on Sept. 30 and conducted preliminary quality checks by region to improve inspection accuracy and reliability.
The remaining 120,000 tons of bulk rice have been undergoing inspection by private inspectors at 365 rice processing complexes and drying and storage facilities nationwide since Sept. 7, timed to coincide with the harvest season.
eyre@heraldcorp.com
