Owner of Michelin 2-star restaurant fined for serving ant-topped desserts

The owner of a Michelin two-star restaurant has been fined after being tried on charges of using ants — an ingredient not approved for food use — in her dishes.

Seoul Western District Court's Criminal Division 8, presided over by Judge Lee Se-chang, fined the 41-year-old operator of the restaurant, identified only as A, 15 million won ($11,100) on charges of violating the Food Sanitation Act, according to legal sources Wednesday.

The corporate entity that operates the restaurant was also fined 10 million won.

The court found A guilty after determining that she had admitted to the charges and that sufficient evidence supported them.

The court said it had to consider "the purpose of the Food Sanitation Act, which is to prevent harm caused by food and to protect and promote public health," pointing to her use of ants — an ingredient not permitted in food — and her use of ant-topped dishes in the restaurant's promotional materials.

The court also noted that heavy metals were detected in the ants at levels exceeding the legal limit, finding that "the culpability is not light."

In A's favor, the court took into account that she had admitted to the offense, had no prior criminal record, and that the number of ants actually served to customers appeared to be lower than the figure listed in the prosecution's charge sheet.

The court said it also considered that A appeared to have used the ants as a minor ingredient without realizing they were not permitted domestically, given their common use as a food ingredient in the United States and Europe, and that she had stopped using them after receiving a corrective order from the authorities.

A and the corporate entity were indicted on charges of selling dishes containing approximately 50,000 dried ants — not recognized as an approved food ingredient — to 12,274 customers between 2021 and January last year.

A had imported dried ant products from the United States and Thailand and used them as a topping on palate-cleansing sorbets and other courses in a tasting menu to add acidity, according to the investigation.

At the first hearing in July, she admitted to most of the charges but said the number of customers served and the quantity of ants used were lower than the prosecution's estimates.

Her defense attorney said at the time that ants were not served to customers who did not want them, that only about 60 percent of all diners opted for the ant topping, and that each person received roughly one to five ants.

In her final statement, A said she "regrets not having properly checked domestic regulations while running the restaurant together as a couple" and pledged to "carefully review relevant laws going forward."

Prosecutors had sought a one-year prison sentence for A and a fine of 20 million won for the corporate entity, citing the lengthy duration of the offense and the detection of heavy metals in the ants above the legal threshold.