April 19, 2024

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[THE INVESTOR] Major Korean retailers and convenience store chain operators decided on Aug. 15 to immediately halt sales of eggs at their branches nationwide after the government warned of pesticide-tainted eggs earlier in the day.

The companies include the nation’s three largest retail firms, E-mart, Homeplus and Lotte Mart, as well as the top convenience store chain CU.

E-mart’s spokesperson said, “The company has not purchased any eggs from the farm that is currently accused of shipping contaminated eggs, but decided to stop sales as a preventive measure.” 

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs found that a farm located in Namyangju, Gyeonggi Province, had delivered eggs contaminated with fipronil. The farm reportedly produced 25,000 eggs per day.

The ministry immediately banned all shipments of eggs from local egg farms with at least 3,000 chickens.

Fipronil is a broad-spectrum insecticide used to treat lice, fleas and ticks. It can cause liver, kidney and thyroid gland damage. The same pesticide has been found in eggs in 17 European countries.

The ministry is currently conducting inspections of local egg farms throughout the nation. “Starting with the largest egg farms, the ministry will inspect every local egg farm in the nation,” the ministry official said. The inspection is expected to be over by the end of the week, he added.

The ministry plans to lift the shipment ban in turn for the farms that finish their inspection with no fipronil detected, to prevent supply problem, it said.

By Shim Woo-hyun /The Korea Herald (ws@heraldcorp.com)