Food Ingredient Standards
- Requirements for Ingredients, etc.
(1) Ingredients used for manufacturing of foods shall be collected, handled,
processed, manufactured or managed for the pupose of human consumption.
(2) Ingredients shall be of good quality and fresh; such ingredients shall not be
spoiled or deteriorated, nor shall they be contaminated by toxic or harmful
substances, thereby being safe.
(3) In the event that natural ingredients that are not subject to food
manufacturing/processing business registration, are directly processed and used
for processed foods, foreign matters on such ingredients, such as soil, sand,
dirt, etc., shall be sufficiently removed and washed off with food processing
water as necessary. In addition, inedible part shall be sufficiently removed.
(4) When purchased and used by businesses subject to license, registration or
report, such food ingredients shall be registered for manufacturing business
registration or complete import declaration, and conform to the applicable
Standards and Specifications; those in violation of related laws, such as
expired products, etc., shall not be used.
(5) Foods and food additives shall conform to the applicable Standards and
Specification, if any; ginseng, red ginseng and black ginseng to the “Ginseng
Industry Act;” wood-cultivated ginseng to the “Forestry and Mountain Villages
Development Promotion Act;” and livestock products to the “Livestock
Products Sanitary Control Act.” However, in the event that the standards and
specifications for hazardous contaminants, such as heavy metals, in finished
products are stricter than for those in ingredients for use, ingredients shall be
used properly in conformity with the former.
(6) In the event of using ground powder as ingredients, they shall be fresh, and
not spoiled or deteriorated; nor shall they be contaminated by foreign matters.
(7) Food processing water shall meet the drinking water standards under the
“Management of Drinking Water Act;” or shall be fresh water, concentrated
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water, deionized mineral water or mineral concentrated water that meets the
Standards/Specifications under the “Development and Management of Deep
Sea Water Act.”
(8) In the event of using agricultural/livestock/fishery ingredients, etc. that are
grown and cultivated through genetic modification technology, such as by
taking useful genes only from an organism and combining them with those
from other organisms, etc., such ingredients shall be determined to be
conforming as a result of the safety review under the “Regulation on GMO
Food Safety Review” pursuant to Article 18 of the “Food Sanitation Act.”
(9) Lactic acid bacteria, etc. used in food shall be edible for human consumption
and safe in terms of food sanitation.
(10) Chinese sumac (Rhus verniciflua Stokes) may be used only as an ingredient
of the product for cooking sumac chickens or ducks in the form of sumac
extract water or a sumac extract tea bag. In such case, urushiol components
shall not be detected in products that used Chinese sumac. In addition,
sumac extract water with urushiol components removed by using Fomitella
fraxinea (Fr.) Imaz., may be used exclusively in soy sauces and pastes,
fermented vinegars, Korean turbid rice wines (takju), Korean cleared rice
wines (yakju), Korean refined rice wines (cheongju) and fruit wines only
prior to fermentation process. In the above cases, the use amount is as
follows:
(a) Soy sauces and pastes and fermented vinegars: Not more than 10.0% of
the finished product weight based on the Chinese sumac weight used in
manufacturing extract
(b) Turbid rice wines (takju), cleared rice wines (yakju), refined rice wines
(cheongju) and fruit wines: Not more than 2.0% of the finished product
weight based on the Chinese sumac weight used in manufacturing
extract
(11) Ginseng or red ginseng-containing products
① In the case of using ginseng as ingredients, dried young ginseng (chunmisam),
ginseng seedling (myosam), skin (sampi) and ginseng marc shall not be
used; and diseased ginseng may be used after removal of the damaged parts.
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② Ginseng leaves shall not contain foreign matters such as other plants; nor
shall they be diseased ginseng leaves or stems or flowers.
③ Fresh ginseng roots to be added in their original form shall not be less
than 3 years old; (except hydroponic ginseng set forth in the Ginseng
Industry Act); and diseased ginseng or lower grade ginseng may not be
used.
(12) Eggs used as an ingredient in manufacturing and processing foods shall not
be unfit for human consumption, such as spoiled eggs, eggs with rancid odor
or mold, or mixed with foreign matters, containing blood, or with leaking
contents or ruptured yolks (excluding those due to physical causes), or those
that stopped hatching or failed to hatch, etc.; and they shall conform to the
maximum residue limits for eggs.
(13) Raw milk shall not contain any drugs for neutralization, pasteurization,
suppression of bacterial proliferation and storage. In addition, cow’s milk
and goat’s milk may not be received at the same plant, nor shall they be
mixed together.
(14) Ingredients for frozen edible fish heads shall be those classified as fit for
human consumption (HS 0303) under the International Convention on the
Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System of the World
Customs Organization (WCO); processed in a sanitary manner; and approved
as such by related authorities. In addition, such ingredients shall be obtained
by removing viscera and gills upon cutting of the ingredients, and processed
in a sanitary manner without use of other materials, such as food additives.
(15) Ingredients for frozen edible fish viscera shall be those classified as fit for
human consumption (HS 0303, 0306, or 0307) under the International
Convention on the Harmonized Commodity Description and Coding System
of the World Customs Organization (WCO); processed in a sanitary manner;
and approved as such by related authorities. In addition, such ingredients
shall be obtained by removing other viscera upon separation of the
ingredients without use of other materials, such as food additives.
(16) Uncooked raw oysters shall be produced in the seas that meet the Water
Quality Standards for Clean Waters pursuant to the “Standards for Rating the
Production Areas of Sedentary Marine Animals and Plants” (notified by
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Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries); or treated to meet the Standards For
Clean Waters through naturalor artificial purification*
- Natural purification: A process to transfer oysters to the area that meets
the water standards and treated using natural
purification capacity in order to reduce the
microorganism level in oysters
** Artificial purification: A process to treat oysters with limited water
environments, such as land-based facilities, etc.,
in order to reduce pathogens in oysters
(17) Ice for fishery used for storage and preservation of fishery products, etc.,
shall be handled in a sanitary manner.
(18) Ingredients used in propolis extract-containing food shall be those collected
by honeybees without being contaminated.
(19) Chlorella in chlorella-containing food and spirulina in spirulina-containing
food shall be purely cultured.
(20) Ingredients used in keto acid-containing food shall be obtained using
crustaceans (such as crabs and shrimps, etc.) where uncontaminated keto
acid can be extracted. No manufacturing solvent residue shall remain in the
food after being used for manufacturing such food using keto acid.
(21) “Edible insects” shall meet the Standards and Specifications, etc. for Breeding
of Edible Insects set forth in the “Act on Fosterage and Support of The
Insect Industry.”
(22) Chili peppers that are diseased, moldy, rotten, or speckled due to being dried
in spoiled condition shall not be used.
(23) In the event that edible by-products generated in manufacturing/processing
food are intended to be used as an ingredient for other products, such
by-products shall be collected, handled and managed in a sanitary manner
according to the food handling standards.
- Standards for Determining Food Ingredients
(1) Any of the following shall not be used as a food ingredient in
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manufacturing/processing or preparing food; provided, however, that those
approved by the Minister of Food and Drug Safety and those approved in
accordance with the “Standards for Approval of Temporary Standards and
Specifications for Foods, etc.” may be used as food ingredients.
① Those not collected, handled, processed, manufactured or managed for the
purpose of human consumption
② Those for which safety and soundness have not been proven as a food
ingredient
③ All others deemed unfit for human consumption by the Minister of Food
and Drug Safety
(2) For those not set forth in the above (1), the Minister of Food and Drug
Safety shall determine whether they can be used as a food ingredient.
However, upon discovering or being presented with a new fact related to the
safety of the food ingredients, the Minister may re-examine and determine
whether they can be used as a food ingredient.
(3) Ingredients without toxicity or adverse effects and with history of safe use in
food in Korea, other than those consumed for appetite suppression or medical
effects, may be deemed usable as “Ingredients approved for use in food” or
“Ingredients approved for limited use in food.”
(4) The following ingredients may be determined as “Ingredients approved for
limited use in food,” and their intended use may be limited to a certain food.
① Those with history of limited use in certain foods only, such as spices,
leached teas and alcoholic beverages, etc.
② Those to be used only after completely removing materials that are toxic or
cause adverse effects
③ Those requiring residue limit of toxic or adverse effect-causing substances
(5) Documents to submit for approval of food ingredients
Those who submit documents for approval may refer to the following
“Decision Tree for Using Food Ingredients.” The submission documents shall
include:
① Documents for basic characteristics of the ingredients
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(a) Names or synonyms of the ingredients
(b) Scientific name and part for use of the ingredients
(c) Documents for characteristics of the ingredients, such as components and
contents, photos and habitat, etc.
(d) Intended use in food
② Evidence for history of safe use in food
(a) Documents supporting that the ingredients have been traditionally
consumed as food in Korea
③ Documents to submit for toxic substances or side effects
(a) Documents for the names, molecular structures and characteristics, etc. of
the toxic or adverse effect-causing substances
(b) Documents for toxic reaction or adverse effects of the causing substances
(c) Documents on methods of analysis for toxic substances, etc.
(d) Evidences demonstrating complete removal of toxic or adverse
effect-causing substances, if applicable
(e) In cases where residue limits are set up for toxic or adverse
effect-causing substances, documents relevant to regulations; reasons for
setting up; and contents in the finished products
