Food Labels Mislead Koreans Living in US


By Choi Soo-an
Korea Times Intern

A group of Korean Americans recently filed a class suit against a food
importer for allegedly disguising Chinese footstuff as Korean products
for sale at several supermarkets in the U.S. catering to Korean
residents.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Chu Chong-su, 48, claimed in a press
conference held in Los Angeles that he, together with a U.S.-based
Korean lawyer, sued the food import company only identified as R for
misleading consumers by selling Chinese- and Thai-made fermented
soybean paste and pickled brine by naming them after famous Korean
regions.

Chu, a Korean resident in U.S. for 27 years, alleged that the firm has
been selling Chinese hot pepper paste labeled as “Sunchang Chapssal
Kochujang (Sunchang glutinous rice hot pepper paste)” and Thai pickled
brine under the name of “Masan Myolchi Chotkuk (Masan pickled anchovy
brine).” Sunchang is the name of a South Korean town and the packaged
bean paste is already being marketed under the name. Masan is a Korean
port.

Chu complained that the ``R,’’ the company he sued indicated the
products’ true origin in one corner of the package, making it
difficult for consumers to recognize they are not made in Korea,
without careful scrutiny.

“When I called the firm to complain after realizing the hot pepper
paste was not made in Sunchang but in China, I was told, `I don’t have
to purchase the product, if I don’t want to,”’ he said.

Kim Chae-su, a legal advisor to the Federation of Korean Associations,
USA, who filed the suit together with Chu, urged Koreans to report
specific cases of damage in order to put an end to such fraudulent
practices of importers and retailers. “We will not take this matter
lightly,” said Kim, an advocate for Koreans’ rights in U.S.

Meanwhile, Daesang Group, which manufactures and sells “Sunchang
Kochujang,” won a suit against the company, ``R,’’ in the past for
similar fraudulent practices in the U.S. But the Korean corporation
didn’t establish exclusive trademark rights to use the Sunchang brand.



11-19-2005 19:32