This article was published on March 31, 2025, at 3:01 p.m. on ChosunBiz RM Report site.
As pesticide residues have been repeatedly detected in Chinese-grown reishi mushrooms, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has decided to strengthen safety management. Importers will only be able to bring reishi mushrooms into the country after proving their safety through inspections for 15 types of pesticide residues prior to import declaration.
According to related industries on the 31st, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will implement the 'inspection order system' for reishi mushrooms imported from China starting today. The inspection order system allows importers to obtain permission for import declaration only after receiving thorough inspections from designated test and inspection organizations when harmful substances are detected or recurring issues are found in imported foods. This will be implemented based on the Special Act on Imported Food Safety Management, and importers must submit the test results that indicate compliance to the local Food and Drug Safety Office at the time of import declaration.
The reason the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety is issuing an inspection order for Chinese-grown reishi mushrooms is due to the recent occurrences of pesticide residues detected that are fatal to humans. In the past six months, three cases of pesticide residues have been detected in Chinese-grown reishi mushrooms. In October of last year, acetochlor was detected at twice the standard level (0.01 mg/kg), and in December, iprodione and procymidone were found at three times the standard level (0.01 mg/kg), leading to disposal at the customs stage.
On the 28th, excessive pesticide residues were detected in products circulating in the market. A Ministry of Food and Drug Safety official noted, "It was confirmed during the annual regular inspections conducted by the Incheon Health Environment Research Institute, where products in circulation were collected and examined."
As a result of the investigation, Jeongbo Trade in Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, imported 8,492 kg of Chinese-grown reishi mushrooms produced in 2020 and sold them in smaller quantities to Daehung Materials (Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul) and Dongkwang General Materials (Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul), where pesticide residues such as malathion and dichlorvos were detected at levels exceeding the standard (0.01 mg/kg) by up to 1,000 times. In products sold by Daehung Materials, malathion levels were found to be 12.83 mg/kg, while those sold by Dongkwang General Materials contained malathion at 1.98 mg/kg and dichlorvos at 0.81 mg/kg.
Reishi mushrooms, also known as 'mushrooms of immortality' or 'longevity mushrooms,' are primarily used as traditional medicine. They are known for their properties such as anti-cancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, antimicrobial, and antioxidant abilities, aiding in the treatment of various diseases. In the traditional Chinese medicine text, Compendium of Materia Medica, reishi mushrooms are also treated as an important medicinal material.
Reishi mushrooms are also produced in South Korea, specifically in Jeongnam Jangheung, Jeonbuk Imsil, and Gyeonggi Yeoju, but the production volume is not significant. This is due to the complexity of the cultivation method. The traditional cultivation method involves drilling holes in oak logs and inoculating them with spawn, which results in high quality but takes a long time for the mushrooms to develop. Additionally, maintaining consistent temperature (25~32℃) and humidity (65~70%) presents further challenges, making mass production difficult.
For these reasons, there is domestic demand for competitively priced Chinese-grown reishi mushrooms. According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation, the import volume of Chinese-grown reishi mushrooms last year reached 157 tons.
Starting today, to import Chinese-grown reishi mushrooms, inspections for 15 types of pesticides including malathion, cypermethrin, cyhalothrin, acetamiprid, acetochlor, imidacloprid, iprodione, carbendazim, chlorfenapyr, chlorpyrifos, triazophos, trifloxystrobin, fenpropathrin, forate, and procymidone must be completed.
The inspection order system for imported foods has been in place since 2012 and has been applied to 40 items from 27 countries. During the period of the inspection order, 22 items without a history of non-compliance have had their orders lifted. Currently, 18 items including natural spices and matsutake mushrooms are subject to the inspection order. With the addition of Chinese-grown reishi mushrooms, the total number of items subject to inspection orders will be 19.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety stated, "As cases of pesticide non-compliance have repeatedly occurred in the customs inspections of Chinese-grown reishi mushrooms, it has become necessary to strengthen the safety management responsibilities of importers to ensure the safety of imported foods by issuing the inspection order." They added, "In the future, plans are in place to enhance safety management focused on foods that repeatedly exhibit non-compliance or pose safety concerns, to create an environment where safe imported foods are supplied and distributed."