Singapore recalls Nong Shim Shrimp Crackers

Oh no! The AVA has instructed the importers and retailers of one of my favourite snacks, Nong Shim shrimp crackers, to recall all the products which may have been affected from the market immediately. Why? You won't believe this but a suspected rat's head was found in a bag of the shrimp crackers in Korea. Yup, deep fried some more. From Chosun:

Foodmaker Nongshim will issue a public apology after an object presumed to be a mouse head was found in a packet of the popular shrimp-flavored snack Sae-u-ggang. The company will halt production of the snacks and collect those in the market to destroy them.

According to the Korea Food and Drug Administration, a 24-year-old woman in Cheongwon, North Chungcheong Province, purchased a pack of Sae-u-ggang and found a 1-1.5 cm-object shaped like the head of a mouse. She complained to the foodmaker and demanded compensation. The demand was rejected.

Anyway this is not the first time that Nong Shim is a subject of complaints from consumers. I found out that in Korea, Nong Shim has been caught most often for unsanitary goods. From Korea Times:

The Consumers Union of Korea received 1,980 reports and complaints about the unsafe condition of processed food between August 2007 and January this year. Among them, 1,071, or 54 percent, were foods containing foreign substances, the group said.

Of the cases, 58 were products manufactured by Nongshim, the nation's largest snack maker, the largest among the nation's total distributors and food or beverage makers.

The 58 cases were: 38 involving bugs; eight with unidentified materials; two each with mold, iron fragments, plastic shards and plastic bag pieces; and one each with hair, flies, bone, and staples.

Crikey! No wonder my Nong Shim shrimp crackers taste so damn good every time.