Over the past four years, there were 1,254 mass food poisoning incidents nationwide, according to compiled data. Restaurants accounted for more than half of all cases, while salmonella-related food poisoning increased every year.
On the 6th, according to materials submitted by the Ministery of Food and Drug Safety to Heo Jong-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, mass food poisoning incidents nationwide averaged 313.5 cases per year from 2022 to last year. That is close to one case a day.
By year, cases rose from 311 in 2022 to 359 in 2023, then fell to 265 in 2024. However, they increased again to 319 last year. By region, Gyeonggi had the most with 189 cases. Busan followed with 158, and Seoul with 138.
Among causative pathogens, salmonella showed a steady rise. Cases increased from 44 in 2022 to 48 in 2023, 58 in 2024, and 79 last year. The four-year cumulative total was 229 cases, exceeding the 216 food poisoning cases caused by norovirus.
Even after epidemiological investigations, 427 cases failed to identify a causative pathogen. That was 34.1% of all incidents, or about one in three.
By location, restaurants accounted for 726 cases, or 57.9% of the total. School cafeterias also saw 111 food poisoning incidents over the four years.
Last year, 36 incidents were confirmed in school cafeterias, three times the 12 incidents that occurred in daycare cafeterias the same year. As incidents recur at restaurants and schools, some note that preventive measures effective in the field are needed.
Heo Jong-sik said, "More than half of food poisoning incidents over the past four years occurred at restaurants, and one in three cases failed to identify the causative pathogen," adding, "We need to enhance the effectiveness of preventive measures such as on-site inspections and hygiene education by closely analyzing occurrence patterns by cause and facility, focusing on restaurants and group cafeterias."