FOOD FRAUD

[Anchor Lead]

Products containing noni, a tropical fruit known for its health benefits, are widely sold on the Internet in Korea. However most of them have been found to contain iron filings, including products that claim to contain pure noni extract.

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​When a powdered noni product is mixed with water and stirred with a magnetic stick, black particles begin to stick to the magnet. Twenty two of the 88 noni products examined by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety have been found to contain metallic foreign substances exceeding permissible levels.

[Soundbite] KIM YONG-JAE(MIN. OF FOOD AND DRUG SAFETY) : "Fine iron particles can occur when grinding solid dried agricultural products."

All but one of the examined products were produced in Korea. Unlike imported products, which are subject to stricter inspections, domestic noni products are made by grinding noni into powder in Korea. Their quality is only checked by their producers. Advertisements for noni products were also found to be far from trustworthy. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has caught 36 online sellers who added water to the noni extract, but advertised their products as 100-percent pure.

[Soundbite] CHUNG YOUNG-BOK(CONSUMER) : "I used to take noni supplements because noni is known to reduce inflammation and prevent cancer. But after iron filings were found there, I stopped taking them."

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has suspended the sale of substandard noni products and requested the Korea Communications Standards Commission to shut down the sellers' Web sites. The authorities will also mandate that producers of all powdered noni products using magnetic tools.