A few days ago, a number of dirty and disgusting photos of Chinese kimchi factories were leaked, which sparked a hot debate on the South Korean internet, and South Korea’s import of Chinese kimchi plummeted by nearly 31%.
According to a report by the Korea Daily on May 10, South Korea imported 18,066 tons of kimchi from China in April, down 30.9 percent from 26,149 tons in March. This is because “Chinese kimchi phobia” has spread among Korean consumers after images of a Chinese kimchi factory making unhygienic kimchi reached South Korea in mid-March.
The photos include topless uncles dipping into kimchi with machinery, rusty diggers picking up and carrying kimchi, and workers stepping on top of pickled radishes with their shoes on.
China kimchi factory disgusting photos out, South Korea’s Chinese kimchi imports in April this year plummeted by nearly 31%. (Photo: South Korea Internet forum pann)
The report said that South Korea currently consumes about 2 million tons of kimchi each year. And about 400,000 tons of kimchi consumed by restaurants, about 300,000 tons are produced in China. But now Koreans are afraid to eat Chinese kimchi.
“More and more customers are not eating Chinese kimchi at restaurants, and the decline in Chinese kimchi imports is expected to continue for some time,” said Lee Byung-chun (phonetic), a special commissioner at the Korea Restaurant Industry Association.
After the outbreak of the Chinese communist virus, South Korean expatriate diners declined heavily and kimchi imports from China declined for a time, but with the gradual relaxation of restrictions such as social distance, Chinese kimchi imports have been rising since February this year, with a 25.7 percent year-on-year surge in March.
However, after scary photos of Chinese kimchi factories hit the Korean internet, consumers began to boycott Chinese kimchi, making the import volume in April not even comparable to the worst period of the epidemic.
In response, the Korea Food, Medical and Pharmaceutical Safety Service recently published “Measures for the Safety and Security of Imported Kimchi,” announcing that the government will conduct field inspections of 26 Chinese kimchi factories this year, and will maintain more than 20 inspections each year thereafter, and will promote food safety certification as it does for domestically produced kimchi.
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