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Food Safety|Food|Our Works|Ministry of Food and Drug Safety
Food Safety
Food Safety Management System
Manegement System
- Processed foods, Food additives,
Health functional foods,
Apparatus and containers
[35,000 Food Manufacturers]
- Agricultural, Livestock or
fishery products.
Processed foods, Food additives,
Health functional foods,
Apparatus and containers
[31,000 Importers]
- Cooked food including food
in restaurants, meal services, etc.
[817,000 Restaurants, Meal service
facilities, etc.]
- Report food and Item for
manufacturing
- Self-quality inspection system
- HACCP system
- Collection and inspection of
distributed food
- Food traceability system
- Harmful food sales prohibition
system
- False/Exaggerated advertisement
monitoring
- Consumer food sanitation
Inspectors
- Managed by MFDS
- Implemented by local government
- Managed by MFDS
- Implemented by local government
- Managed by MFDS
- Implemented by local government
- The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety established a food safety management system to provide safer food. Domestic foods are managed through three stages: manufacturing, distribution, and consumption. In the manufacturing stage, the business operator must first submit a food manufacturing and item manufacturing report. In the manufacturing stage, self-quality inspections are conducted to ensure safety of products, and the HACCP system is applied to protect food from any hazardous risk in a preemptive manner. In the distribution stage, food products are collected and inspected to strengthen safe food distribution, and the food traceability system is operated to trace the distribution routes of harmful foods, along with the operation of the Hazardous Food Sales Prevention System. In the consumption stage, false or exaggerated advertisements are monitored and consumer food sanitation guard system is operated.
Prevention Build Ground for
Preemptive food
Safety management
Select and Focus Place priority on
Areas with weak
sanitation
Fast Response Fast response to
accidents, Prevent
spread of problem
Participation and Communication Increase consumer
Participation and
provide information
Manufacturing
Food Manufacturing and Item Manufacturing Report
- A person who seeks to manufacture or process foods or food additives must submit an item manufacturing report to the relevant local government prior to, or within 7 days of production initiation.
Self-Quality Inspection System
- To secure food safety prior to distribution, a business operator that manufactures or processes foods must conduct regular inspections to confirm whether the manufactured or processed foods comply with relevant standards and regulations
HACCP (Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point) System
- HACCP, a scientific and preventive management system to secure food safety, is a system that checks, assesses, and focuses management on harmful elements that may occur from raw materials to the manufacturing, processing, cooking and distributing process of foods * HA (Hazard Analysis): Analysis of all possible biological, chemical and physical factors that lead to hazard * CCP (Critical Control Point) : Key management of the process or stage that can help prevent, eliminate, or reduce harmful elements to an acceptable level
- To strengthen the level of safety in food production and manufacturing, MFDS pushed for mandatory application of HACCP, which built legal ground in the 2002 ?Food Sanitation Act?. In August 2003, six items [processed fish products (fish cakes), frozen marine products (fish, invertebrates, flavor-treated processed products), frozen food(pizza, dumplings, noodles), ice-creams, non-pasteurized beverages, retort food products] were designated as mandatory HACCP-applied items (Kimchi cabbage added in Dec. 2006). In October 2005, the ?Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Points (Notified by MFDS)? was revised and enforced from 2006 to 2012 in multiple phases, based on the annual sales of the ′mandatory HACCP-applied items′ and the number of employees in business entities (mandatory HACCP applied to Kimchi cabbage from 2008 to 2014)
- In May 2014, the Enforcement Rule of the ?Food Sanitation Act? was amended to include 8 additional items (snacks?candies, breads?rick cakes, chocolates, fish sausages, beverages, instant foods, noodles, instant fried noodles, special purpose foods) in the list of the ′mandatory HACCP-applied items.′ Mandatory HACCP application on these items are being implemented phase-by-phase from 2014 to 2020, based on the annual sales and number of employees in 2013. (Enforcement for foods manufactured and processed in businesses recording more than KRW 10 billion in annual sales for the previous year will be completed by November 2017)
- MFDS promotes stable HACCP certification especially for children's foods including snacks and candy, along with the expansion of voluntary HACCP application. To support smooth application of HACCP in small businesses, the Korea Institute for Food Safety Management Accreditation is providing customized technical support for businesses that are willing or are required to apply HACCP, including technical support for HACCP operation, training and promotion free of charge ※ List of businesses with HACCP certificates in the republic of Korea
Distribution
Collection and Inspection of Distributed Foods
- To prevent harm from food and to ensure sanitary management, food products distributed and used for sales purposes in businesses are collected and tested for compliance with standards defined by CODEX, etc. The products that do not meet the food safety standards are promptly recalled or seized and disposed of
Food Traceability
- MFDS established and operates the Food traceability system to take measures such as cause analysis, tracking, and recalls when hazards occur in foods or in health functional food products and to provide more accurate information to consumers
- MFDS revised the Enforcement Decree of ?Food Sanitation Act? and the Enforcement Decree of ?Health Functional Foods Act? to facilitate food traceability in Korea. The application of food traceability is becoming mandatory by phase for businesses that import or manufacture (process) infant and baby foods or health functional food products with annual sales exceeding a certain level and for other food product retailers operating business on stores exceeding a certain level of size The related notification (Food and Health Functional Foods Traceability Standard, etc.) was revised so that businesses are investigated and assessed every 2~3 years for follow-up management
- MFDS established and operates the 'Food Traceability Information System,' holds training sessions to encourage voluntary participation of businesses, and provides on-site training and consulting (through visits) to help stabilize and expand the system
Hazardous Food Sales Prevention System
- MFDS annually collects and inspects approximately 120,000 cases of food products to secure food safety in the domestic market. On the other hand, food manufacturers also check their products' quality and safety through regular self-quality inspections. The information on defective products gathered through these tests are reported to MFDS in real-time, from approximately 85 inspection facilities nationwide. MFDS operates the ′Hazardous Food Sales Prevention System′ which enables MFDS to prevent consumers from purchasing the reported products by sending out the information on hazardous products in real-time, directly to the check-out counters in convenient stores, supermarkets and etc. HazardousFood Sales Block
- In 2009, ′Hazardous Food Sales Prevention System′ was established in the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI), under the cooperation of MFDS and other relevant ministries, which was followed by a pilot project in Lotte Mart, a large distributor in Korea. As of 2015, the ′Hazardous Food Sales Prevention System′ is being installed and extended to all stores distributing and selling food products nationwide, including major supermarkets, department stores, small and medium-sized distributors, convenience stores, home shopping channels (online stores), etc.
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Consumption
Monitoring of False?Exaggerated Advertising
- All advertisement media including the internet, broadcasts, newspapers, magazines and other printed materials are monitored to prevent consumer damage from false or exaggerated advertisements indicating that certain food products have therapeutic effects or making consumers confuse products as medicine
- As it is difficult to systematically monitor food service businesses with only public officers in charge of food sanitation inspection, the Consumer Food Sanitation Guard System is operated to promote consumers' active participation in food sanitation monitoring, to complement the monitoring activities of the administrative body and to secure higher transparency in food sanitation monitoring activities
Management of Food Standards and Specifications
- Food Standards and Specifications Regulations are made to provide legal ground for management of harmful elements3) in food products produced for distribution and sales, so as to block2) the risk of harming1) the human body by consuming foods and to ensure food safety
- Businesses can secure compliance with the concerned specifications by satisfying the standards on manufacturing, processing and using, and preserving methods
- Standards and specifications for harmful elements in food products serve as a method to manage harmful elements
- Harm: The possibility of harmful factors entering the human body and causing negative impact on human health
- Block risk of harm: Managing harmful elements within an acceptable level so that even if a person is exposed to harmful elements through food consumption, there is no negative impact to human health
- Harmful elements: Chemical, biological and/or physical elements that can cause harmful impact to the human body through food products
Safety Management of Health Functional Food
Management of Standard and Criteria
- In 2004, the 「Standards and Specifications for Health Functional Food」 was established to set criteria for manufacturing·processing, production, import, distribution and preservation of health functional food products In addition, standards and specifications were established for functional ingredients and products to promote standardized distribution of health functional foods and to secure consumer safety
Functional Ingredient Recognition
- Health functional foods are products manufactured (and processed) with functional ingredients or elements useful for human health. "Functional" implies adjustment of nutrients in the human body structure or function, or those that bring useful health effects such as in physiological reaction, etc. Functional ingredients or elements can be categorized into those that are notified by the Minister of Food and Drug Safety and those that are recognized individually
Functional Ingredient
- Ingredient or element notified by the Minister of Food and Drug Safety
- Health functional food manufacturers can manufacture products fit to the predefined manufacturing standards and specifications
- After reviewing the data submitted by business operators regarding the safety and functionality of an ingredient, the Minister of Food and Drug Safety issues an individual letter of recognition for the concerned ingredient or element The use of such ingredient or element is confined to the business operator that received the letter of recognition
- To obtain individual recognition as a functional ingredient, the data prescribed under Article 12 and 13 of the ?Regulation on Approval of Functional ingredient and of Standard/Specification for Health Functional Food? must be submitted to MFDS. The data submitted by the business operator will be reviewed based on the standards and specifications, safety and functionality assessment standards and will be recognized as a functional ingredient under consultation with the 'Health Functional Food Deliberation Committee.'
Zoom To obtain individual recognition as a functional ingredient, the data prescribed under Article 12 and 13 of the Regulation on Approval of Functional ingredient and of Standard/Specification for Health Functional Food? must be submitted to MFDS. The data submitted by the business operator will be reviewed based on the standards and specifications, safety and functionality assessment standards and will be recognized as a functional ingredient under consultation with the 'Health Functional Food Deliberation Committee -->
| Applicant | Institution in Charge |
| Document by Applicant | Registration |
| Review |
| On-site-survey |
| Consultation |
| Recognition |
| Notification | Approval |
Functional Ingredient Recognition Process
Establishing the Foundation for Manufacturing Excellent Health Functional Foods
- To secure safety and higher quality of health functional foods and to manage the manufacturing and quality of health functional foods in a more structured and systematic way, the 'Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP)' system was prepared and is currently being implemented
- At the current stage, the Excellent Health Functional Food Manufacturing Standard is not mandatory application to all Health Functional Food Manufacturers. However, if a manufacturer is recognized as applying the Excellent Health Functional Food Manufacturing Standard, then they can manufacture on commission from health functional food venture companies or health functional food distributers and sellers.
Strengthening Follow-up Management
- As various kinds of hazardous factors including new types of harmful substances and drugs such as sexual performance enhancers and depressants are increasing, to maintain the safety of health functional foods and to prevent consumers from getting harmed or injured due to illegal, false and exaggerated ads, MFDS has been carrying out strong follow-up management through collections, inspections and monitoring of the distributed health functional foods.
Collection and Analysis of Abnormal cases
- In order to manage the side effects of health functional product intake systematically and on scientific grounds, MFDS has established a "Health Functional Food Side Effect Reporting System" and has been collecting incidences of side effects and relevant information. In January 2013, MFDS unified the scattered management tasks for health functional food side-effects (which was originally Consumers Union of Korea for consumers, Korea Health Supplements Association for business operators, MFDS for expert personnels like doctors, nurses, etc.) into the National Food Safety Information Service.
- The related legal provisions were amended and the reporting criteria for business operators was strengthened from reporting at point of confirmation to point of knowledge of any side effects, which places higher priority on consumer protection Also, it was made mandatory to include 1577-2488, the number to report possible side-effects from taking health functional food, in the labeling of the package and container of health functional foods.
※ List of health functional food products recognized in the republic of Korea
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