Recently, food poisoning bacteria were detected again in Korean mushrooms that caused the death of food poisoning in the United States.

For the third time in the past two months, our export of Enoki mushrooms to Korea has been virtually blocked for some time.

According to the Korea Agro-Fisheries Corporation, H & C Food, a US food distribution company, recently discovered the food poisoning bacteria Listeria, and recalled the product.

Listeria can cause fever, muscle aches, headaches, and loss of balance, and high-risk groups such as the elderly or pregnant women should be especially careful.

As a result, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an import warning for H & C food that could be denied import without inspection.

It was the third time that Listeria was detected in Korean Enoki mushrooms following the products distributed by Sunhong Food and Guan Mushrooms in March this year.

According to the FDA and local media reports, from November 2016, FDA recalled on March 9, when 4 people died from eating mushrooms distributed by Sunhong Food in 17 states in the United States and 32 people were poisoned.

After another regular inspection, Listeria mushrooms were detected in Guan mushroom products, and they were recalled on the 23rd of the same month.

At the time, the FDA recommended that high-risk groups such as the elderly, vulnerable people, chronically ill patients, pregnant women, and newborn infants should not eat Korean mushrooms.

In addition, we decided to discard Enoki mushrooms that do not know the origin.

With the subsequent detection of food poisoning bacteria and the FDA's recommendation to ban eating, the export of Korean Enoki mushrooms to the United States has been difficult for the time being.

Last year, Korea's enoki mushroom exports amounted to $ 27.27 million (about 27.9 billion won), of which exports to the United States amounted to $ 9.2 million (about 11.3 billion won), accounting for about 40% of the total.

With the recent corona 19 crisis, there is concern that the damage to farms will be even greater due to sluggish exports and domestic consumption outside the United States.

The government has made efforts to strengthen hygiene management in the production and distribution process, such as making enoki mushrooms 'heated for cooking' and institutionalizing them.

The Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Distribution Corporation said, "It seems to be a problem because the US prefers to eat Enoki mushrooms as a salad." "You have to deal with the risks in advance."