Multiple companies have been caught selling ordinary foods through false advertising that portrayed them as health functional foods or pharmaceuticals with antioxidant and slow-aging effects.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Tuesday it had caught 21 companies that violated the Act on Labeling and Advertising of Foods following an intensive inspection of haskap berry-containing foods and albumin foods. The ministry requested administrative measures from the relevant local governments and referred the cases for investigation.
The companies caught were found to have advertised ordinary foods as if they had the efficacy of health functional foods or pharmaceuticals, the investigation showed. Sales by these companies totaled 1.42 billion won.
Fifteen haskap berry food retailers sold about 50,000 products, generating sales worth 940 million won. They were found to have deceived consumers by promoting their products as "the king of antioxidants," "a natural vision protector," and "slow aging." Some companies even used expressions such as "inflammation and disease prevention" and "immunity enhancement," advertising the products as if they had disease prevention and treatment effects.
Six albumin food retailers also sold around 10,000 products, generating sales worth 480 million won. They were confirmed to have deceived consumers by using expressions such as "fatigue recovery supplement," "blood circulation improvement supplement," and "swelling care," or by using customer testimonials.
The ministry particularly stressed that albumin foods are merely ordinary foods made from raw materials such as egg whites, and are completely different from the human serum albumin injections used in medical settings. The ministry explained that although it had caught nine companies for false advertising of albumin foods in April, similar advertising continued, prompting it to conduct additional inspections.
The ministry said online false and exaggerated advertising exploiting the recent slow-aging and antioxidant craze has been increasing, and it plans to strengthen monitoring. After catching a company last month that advertised reverse-aging effects using a fake AI-generated doctor, the ministry plans to expand related crackdowns.
"Ordinary foods are neither health functional foods nor pharmaceuticals, so the efficacy and effects presented in advertisements cannot be expected," a ministry official said. "When purchasing products, please be careful not to be deceived by advertising content."
