This article was published on April 17, 2025, at 3:31 p.m. on the ChosunBiz RM report site.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety noted on the 17th that it has sent four individuals to prosecutors on charges of violating the Food Sanitation Act for selling food containing 'tadalafil,' an ingredient that cannot be used in food.
According to the ministry, it recently referred a group to prosecutors for manufacturing health functional food ginseng products using an ingredient containing tadalafil in December 2023, which was then sold to consumers in a multi-level marketing scheme. The ministry is also tracking the supplier of the ingredient.
The investigation revealed that Person A manufactured 32.6 kg of food ingredients by mixing tadalafil with powdered blackberry and angelica from January 2019 to March 2023, then sold 10.6 kg to Person B and 22 kg to Person C. Person B is found to have sold the 10.6 kg he purchased back to Person C.
Person C sold the 32.6 kg of food ingredients containing tadalafil purchased from Persons A and B to food manufacturers to produce 'sprouted soybean protein' from January 2019 to December 2022. It was also confirmed that Person D imported about 2 kg of powdered herbs containing tadalafil through international mail in March 2020 to sell to food manufacturers for use in the sprouted soybean protein.
The ministry disposed of all seized items, including about 10 kg of sprouted soybean protein and tadalafil powder confiscated at the site during the investigation.
Prior to this, in December 2023, the ministry referred to prosecutors individuals and food manufacturers who produced and sold sprouted soybean protein using ingredients containing tadalafil supplied by Persons C and D, as well as health functional food manufacturers that used these ingredients to produce ginseng products, for violating the Food Sanitation Act and the law on health functional foods.
A ministry official said, 'We plan to strengthen crackdowns on the use of harmful substances in food and health functional foods and strictly address violations to create an environment where the public can consume food with confidence.'