(1) Reasons for Proposal

This Amendment aims to require the mandatory labeling of safety statements including “wash” or “heat” on the package of forest products to keep consumers safe from food poisoning and prevent food safety accidents.

* Necessary to implement measures to prevent an outbreak of Listeria food poisoning in Korea due to the consumption of fresh Korean enoki mushrooms, as announced by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) (March 2020)

(2) Major Provisions

○ Newly insert a safety statement to prevent food safety accidents (attached Table 4)

ⓐ Mushrooms and wild vegetables that must be heated before consumption: fresh shiitake mushrooms, fresh cauliflower mushrooms, fresh wood ear mushrooms, fresh ferns, dureup (greens), bamboo shoots, and Cirsium setidens (gondre)

- “Do not eat raw but make sure to fully heat and cook before consumption.” or “Make sure to heat before consumption.” 

ⓑ Tree fruits and medicinal herbs that can be consumed with peel: fresh dates, ripe persimmons, darae (mountain berry), Rubus coreanus (Korean blackberry), Rubus crataegifolius (Korean raspberry), and wild-simulated ginseng

- “Wash before consumption.”

ⓒ Food which must be heated or washed (consumed fresh): matsutake (mushroom), fresh chwinamul (leaves), deodeok (bonnet bellflower), and fresh doraji (balloon flower)

- “Wash or heat before consumption”