Consumer Distrust

[Anchor Lead]

On Monday, the Korean government announced the results of additional inspections into the egg contamination scandal, but it did little to assure anxious consumers. The distrust stems from the lack of consistency in the government's response to the scandal.

[Pkg]

When the egg contamination scandal broke out in Europe a month ago, the Korean government said repeatedly that domestic eggs were safe to eat.

[Soundbite] Ryu Young-jin(Minister of Food & Drug Safety (Aug. 16)) : "I said that domestic eggs were safe because I had received a report saying that there were no problems."

However, on August 14 at 2 p.m. insecticides were detected in domestic eggs for the first time. Ten hours passed before the government disclosed this fact. Two days later, when announcing farms where insecticides had been detected, the government mistakenly listed Yangju of Gyeonggi-do Province as Gwangju. The government also mispronounced the egg brand that was found to contain insecticides, and significant time passed before the mistake was corrected. Nine farms where no insecticides were detected were included in the list of contaminated farms, causing damages to the farmers.

[Soundbite] (Farmer (Voice modified)) : "I never received the results. It's terrifying to see such media reports."

Although the government has announced the results of the inspection into egg contamination, KBS TV has found that some items had been omitted from the inspection. The government rushed to additionally inspect one-third of the farms in the nation, but it did little to address consumer concerns.

[Soundbite] Ryu Moon-ha(Seoul Resident) : "I can't trust the government. I urge the authorities to take measures that work."

Two months before the egg scandal in Europe, bifenthrin had already been detected in excessive amounts in eggs produced on a farm in Chungcheongnam-do Province. In other words, authorities had multiple opportunities to prevent the scandal early on. President Moon Jae-in has apologized to the public for causing anxiety and confusion, and instructed his administration to overhaul the entire livestock safety management system and devise fundamental measures to regain consumer trust as soon as possible.