South Korean YouTuber Kim Jin-young, better known by her handle “ggu_Kim,” yesterday apologized on Facebook for her kimchi products containing the sweetener sodium saccharin, and said the products would be recalled and customers would be fully refunded.
The Taipei Department of Health launched an inspection yesterday and has delivered samples to a laboratory for analysis, official Chen Yi-ting (陳怡婷) said.
If found to contain substances that contravene the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation (食品安全衛生管理法), the manufacturer with which Kim collaborates could face a fine of NT$30,000 to NT$3 million (US$976 to US$97,640), she said.
Photo: screen grab from Kim’s Instagram
Chen said the Taipei City Government has asked the New Taipei City Government to inspect materials and manufacturing processes at the factory that produces the products.
While sodium saccharin is a legal food additive, it is only approved for use in plum powder, sugar substitutes and other products, and should not be used to make kimchi, she said.
Kim’s statement said that the manufacturer has admitted it had added sugar containing sodium saccharin to two of the brand’s products since April 6 without telling the YouTuber.
Kim said not only is she complying with the investigation, but also stopping sales and recalling the products.
The statement said that the brand had asked the manufacturer to provide details of the manufacturing process.
Yen Tsung-hai (顏宗海) of the department of clinical toxicology at Changgung Memorial Hospital’s Linkou (林口) branch said that saccharin and sodium saccharin are approved additives, but its sweetness is 300 to 500 times that of sugar refined from sugarcane.
In related news, a Taipei beef noodle shop where an employee was filmed wringing a dirty rag into a cooking pot has been fined NT$30,000 for not having product liability insurance, the Taipei Department of Health said yesterday.
The department said the shop received the fine following inspections of its two stores in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投) on Monday and Tuesday.
The popular beef noodle restaurant came under the spotlight after a deliveryman posted a video on the Internet on Sunday showing an employee wringing out a used rag into a pot of water used to cook noodles.
Faced with a torrent of criticism, the restaurant owner, surnamed Hsu (許), apologized for the incident in a statement on Monday.
Hsu said the incident was caused by the negligence of the employee in question, adding that the shop is temporarily closed to improve employee education and training.
Health inspectors subsequently issued the store a warning after finding it had breached food safety standards.
The store would be subject to periodic on-site inspections once it resumes operations, the department said, adding that should a similar incident reoccur it could be fined NT$60,000 to NT$200 million under food safety and sanitation regulations.
Additional reporting by Tung Kuan-yi and CNA
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