Amid allegations that a large sundae (Korean blood sausage) supplier with annual sales of 40 billion won (approx. 34 million USD) manufactures sundae in an unsanitary environment, the company stated on the 3rd that it is just a "malicious report from an employee who resigned."

After the issue was broadcast on KBS News 9 on November 2, the company said on its website that day, "We apologize for causing concern. A former employee maliciously reported this to KBS because he was vindictive of his unfortunate resignation," adding, "We tried to explain ourselves as much as possible by filing a provisional injunction against the broadcast, but it was dismissed and was broadcast."

Earlier, News 9 released a video from inside the plant known to have been filmed by the former employee of the company earlier this year. In the video, black bugs are attached to the bottom of a large steamer used for steaming sundae, and frozen pig intestines used in the skin of sundae are being laid on the floor of the factory and thawed.

Bugs under steamer (Source: KBS News 9)

In addition, the water falling from the ceiling of the factory was mixed with the seasoned glass noodles entering the sundae, and the former employee of the company claimed in an interview with KBS, "I heard that the water falls when the frozen pipes melt."

In response, the company said, "In February, water fell from the drain pipe after freezing and bursting. It is not true that it was mixed with the filling and sold." They added, "We immediately discarded all the seasoning in the container, and the frozen pipe was repaired, so there is no problem."

Regarding reports of the bugs on the steamer, the company said, "We found a gap by the sewage drain in the steam room over the holiday and it was handled by both the official team and the pest control company. The steamer was not operating because it was a holiday and there is no chance bugs can enter the steamer since everything is sealed and steamed."

Water falling from pipe (Source: KBS News 9)

In response to the informant's claim that products that can't be sold are repackaged using new sundae materials, the company refuted, "During production, some of the sundae that burst or were too thick or thin were reprocessed. The broadcast that products close to expiry or ground up inventory are used is biased editing and absurd speculation."

The sundae company said they will proceed with a lawsuit against the informant for slandering the company with unconfirmed information. The company stated, "We will disclose all production processes transparently in the future. We promise to clean up all possible problems and do our best to manage hygiene as it is a food for the people."

The products made by the company are known to be delivered to a number of large discount stores and catering companies. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has launched a sudden hygiene inspection on the plant.

This article was paraphrased from: sedaily