[Anchor]

Following the controversy over Chinese cabbage tainted with formaldehyde, a Group 1 carcinogen, a new controversy has emerged in China over dyed lettuce. Stem lettuce, commonly known as gungchae, was found to be treated with a food coloring banned for fresh vegetables. Authorities are currently checking whether any of the products were imported into South Korea.

This report is by reporter Kim Young-a.

[Reporter]

This is a vegetable processing facility in Gansu Province, China.

Workers dip vegetables into plastic drums filled with liquid and take them out.

It is stem lettuce, known as gungchae, which is also used in side dishes and other culinary dishes in South Korea.

[Blogger who exposed 'dyed lettuce': It has been confirmed that a vegetable dyeing hub exists in Yuzhong County, Lanzhou City, Gansu Province. The use of an unidentified liquid was captured at more than half of the 13 vegetable warehouses.]

The Chinese blogger who posted the video online revealed that tests on the solution used at the workshop confirmed it to be a complex coloring agent.

The lettuce was reportedly treated with green food coloring to make it appear fresher.

As the controversy grew, Gansu provincial authorities launched inspections and cracked down on six vegetable companies out of 53 in the region for producing dyed lettuce.

The coloring agent they used is permitted for certain foods such as beverages, but is strictly prohibited for use on fresh vegetables.

The amount of "dyed lettuce" uncovered at the six companies alone totals 80 tons.

Authorities stated that all the products seized at the scene have been discarded.

Chinese authorities have booked the six companies and are investigating the exact distribution routes of the dyed lettuce.

The South Korean Embassy in China has requested Chinese authorities to verify whether this dyed lettuce was also exported to South Korea.

(Video Editing: Park Choon-bae)