As controversy erupted over broadcaster Lee Gyeong-sil's "premium eggs," the site selling the product was shut down.
On the 19th, when searching for "Prestige," the company selling Lee Gyeong-sil's eggs, on a portal site and accessing its homepage, a notice reading "This site is under preparation" appears. As of the same day, Prestige's official mall on Naver's shopping platform also could not be found.
The issue centered on the fact that the last digit of the eggshell code for products sold by Prestige is 4. All eggs distributed in Korea are stamped with a 10-digit eggshell code. The last digit indicates the hen's rearing environment. No. 1 means free-range (animal-welfare fertilized eggs), No. 2 means indoor barn, No. 3 means enriched cage, and No. 4 means eggs produced by hens raised in conventional cages.
The area allotted to one hen that lays No. 4 eggs is about 0.05 square meters, which is smaller than a sheet of A4 paper. Hens that lay No. 4 eggs are known to spend their lives laying eggs in cramped cages until they die.
The problem, critics said, is that the eggs Lee Gyeong-sil sells cost 15,000 won per tray (30 eggs), similar to online prices for high-quality eggs with an eggshell code ending in No. 1. This sparked controversy that "a celebrity premium may be tacked on to sell ordinary-quality eggs at a high price."
Lee Gyeong-sil said on social media (SNS) that "I sincerely apologize for failing to fully consider consumers' feelings out of pride in producing good-quality eggs."
Lee added that the last digit of the eggshell code reflects the rearing environment only and is unrelated to the quality grade. She also said that Prestige's Wooaran is fed costly ingredients such as turmeric and cordyceps, and that the farm maintains egg quality and freshness through hygiene and disease control and invests significant expense.
Lee said, "You cannot judge quality based solely on a No. 4 eggshell code," adding, "From laying to delivery to the moment consumers crack the egg, what matters most for quality (freshness) is not the eggshell code but quality (freshness)."
Lee continued, "It is not about who is right or wrong; I think the issue arose because standards for assessing rearing environments and eggs differ," adding, "It is not that only No. 1 and No. 2 eggs are good and No. 4 is automatically low quality; even in a No. 4 rearing environment, quality can vary widely. I hope this controversy properly explains that to consumers."
She added, "These days, not only my family but also relatives and acquaintances eat Wooaran together, and I will keep the quality exactly as it was at the beginning."