The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced that, following reports that formaldehyde, a Group 1 carcinogen, was used in cultivating Chinese cabbage, tests conducted on 8 shipments of imported Chinese cabbage declared for customs over the two days starting from the 24th showed no formaldehyde detected.

The ministry has been inspecting imported Chinese cabbage for formaldehyde content at the customs clearance stage every time since the 24th.

The ministry added that inspections are also underway by manufacturing facility for kimchi (paechu-kimchi) and salted cabbage.

Furthermore, the ministry is collecting and inspecting products from all Chinese manufacturers concerning Chinese cabbage, kimchi, and salted cabbage distributed domestically.

However, it remains unconfirmed whether cabbages exposed to formaldehyde have actually been imported into South Korea.