Major food factories violate standards despite HACCP certification
Global airline caterer Gate Gourmet Korea caught in violations two years running
Incheon tops nation in HACCP violation rate for second consecutive year
94.4% of foreign-object cases resolved with corrective orders only
A plastic fragment was found in mandu produced at CJ CheilJedang's Incheon factory, while Daihan Jedang's Incheon factory was cited for poor hygiene in its manufacturing facility, newly released government data shows.
A subsidiary of global airline caterer Gate Group was also found to have committed violations two years in a row, adding to a string of hygiene failures at Incheon food companies that hold the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) certification.
Incheon has now topped the nation in violation rates among HACCP-certified food manufacturers for two consecutive years, and critics say the fact that most foreign-object cases are resolved with nothing more than corrective orders points to the need for stronger post-certification oversight and tougher administrative penalties.
According to data submitted to the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee by Democratic Party of Korea lawmaker Heo Jong-sik, who represents Incheon's Dong-gu and Michuhol-gu (Gap) district, CJ CheilJedang's Incheon factory found a green plastic fragment measuring 11 by 5 by 3 millimeters in a mandu product in 2024 and received a corrective order in December of that year.
Daihan Jedang's Incheon factory was also cited last year for poor hygiene in its raw-materials storage room and manufacturing and processing area, resulting in a fine of 500,000 won ($374). The violations showed that lapses extend beyond foreign-object management to basic facility sanitation.
Gate Gourmet Korea, a subsidiary of global airline catering group Gate Group, received a fine in 2021 and was then hit with a penalty surcharge in 2022 for violating operator compliance requirements.
With violations confirmed at facilities ranging from major domestic food factories to a global airline catering supplier, calls are growing for closer scrutiny of whether HACCP-certified companies are actually maintaining proper hygiene standards after receiving certification.
Incheon's overall violation figures are alarming. The rate at which HACCP-certified food manufacturers in the city were caught breaking the Food Sanitation Act stood at 8.3 percent in 2023, well above the national average of 5.7 percent and the highest of any region in the country.
In 2024, the rate remained at 7.3 percent, again exceeding the national average of 5.1 percent, making Incheon the top violator for the second year running.
The cumulative violation rate over the past five years, from 2021 to 2025, was 6.5 percent, higher than the national average of 5.3 percent. Last year's rate of 4.2 percent fell below the national average of 4.9 percent, but repeat violations remain a persistent problem.
Company A, which supplies fresh foods such as dosirak and kimbap to convenience stores, was caught in violations in each of the five years from 2021 to 2025. Of its 11 total violations, nine involved foreign objects, yet the company received only 10 corrective orders and one fine.
Over the past five years, 24 companies were found to have been cited in two or more separate years. Those companies accounted for 81 violations in total — roughly 40 percent of the 203 detailed violation cases recorded overall — confirming a pattern of repeat offenses at the same facilities.
The effectiveness of administrative penalties also draws fire. Of the 203 detailed violation cases in Incheon, 121, or 59.6 percent, resulted in corrective orders.
Particularly striking, 68 of 72 foreign-object cases — 94.4 percent — were limited to corrective orders. The remaining four received product manufacturing suspension orders. Not a single foreign-object case led to a business suspension.
HACCP is a system designed to proactively manage potential hazards that can arise during the food manufacturing process.
Critics argue that when certified companies are found to have plastic contamination and unsanitary manufacturing facilities, and when the vast majority of foreign-object cases result in nothing more than corrective orders, it becomes difficult to maintain consumer trust in the certification system.
"It is hard to accept that companies repeatedly found to have foreign objects in their products have continued operating while retaining their HACCP certification, given that consumers buy food trusting that certification," Heo said.
He added that Incheon topping the nation in violation rates for two consecutive years signals the need to examine the effectiveness of HACCP post-certification management, and called on the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety to tighten penalty standards for companies with repeated foreign-object findings and to strictly factor repeat violation histories into post-certification evaluations as part of a meaningful recurrence-prevention plan.
gilbert@heraldcorp.com
