[Press Release, Aug. 6, 2020 / unofficial translation] Measures to restrict 128 hazardous food products that have been directly purchased overseas in the first half of this year - Restricted substances detected from 12 products, 116 potentially hazardous foreign products - □ The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS, Minister Lee Eui-Kyung) bought 544 products* advertised as diet products and sexual function improvement products in overseas online market, and found 12 products (22%) to have restricted substances which are banned to be used in food products. Accordingly, the Ministry warned consumers to be careful when buying these products. *Diet products (323), Sexual function improvement products (71), Muscle enhancement products (62), etc. □ The restricted substances were detected in 7 diet products, 4 sexual function improvement products, and 1 muscle enhancement product. ○ (For diet) Sennosides and Cascaroside, domestic drug substances, were detected in 3 products which are “Kiseki Tea Detox Fusion Drink”, “Dual biactive d-tox”, and “Tummy & Body Fat Reducing Tea”. Substances banned to be used in food products such as Goldenseal Root* and 5-hydroxytryptophan** were detected in 4 products which are “Bikini Me”, “Slim Me”, “Deep detox”, and “Ripped freak hybrid supplement”. * Goldenseal Root : Categorized as Group 2B (have cancer risk) by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) ** 5-hydroxytryptophan (HTP): A substance that alleviates insomnia and depression ○ (For sexual function improvement) Sidenafil and Tadalafil, erectile dysfunction drugs, were detected in “Impactra Gold”, and Icariin, a drug substance, was detected in “Rise” and “Testosterone Rush”. Also, L-Citrulline*, a substance banned to be used in food products, was found in “Daiichca”. *L-Citrulline: A substance for strengthening muscles and increasing the blood flow ○ (For muscle enhancement) L-Citrulline was detected in “Nitricrete”. □ According to the regular inspection on potentially hazard products based on foreign hazard information of the first half of this year, ○ among 116 products, 105 products contained pharmaceutical substances such as Sidenafil, Yohimbine, 5 products were contaminated by microbiological substances such as Clostridium botulinum and Cronobacter, 2 products were not labeled as allergen food products such as “milk” and “peanut”, and products of “cup shaped jelly” which can make kids choke were found. □ The MFDS requested Korea Customs Service to block the domestic import of 128 products which contain restricted substances and are potentially hazardous. For consumers to check the information, the Ministry disclosed “A list of hazardous food products banned for import” at Food Safety Korea (foodsafetykorea.go.kr) and Imported Food Information Maru (impfood.mfds.go.kr). □ The MFDS noted that it will strengthen the safety management system on self-consumed products purchased online: the functional products for diet, sexual function improvement, and muscle enhancement; the kid products such as powdered milk and jelly; and the immune-boosting foods which gain traction due to the COVID-19 pandemic. ○ The Ministry also emphasized the importance to check whether the product is banned for import in advance since the product directly purchased overseas doesn’t go through the official import process, making it hard to ensure its safety. ※ Please refer to a “List of hazardous food products banned for import” attached in the Press Release in Korean dated Aug. 6, 2020 for more details.