Food safety authorities antsy over use of ants as garnish at restaurant

Home > National > Social Affairs

Food safety authorities antsy over use of ants as garnish at restaurant

Published: 10 Jul. 2025, 14:40 Updated: 10 Jul. 2025, 18:42

Audio report: written by reporters, read by AI

Ants to be used as garnish are stored in a dish at a restaurant that was investigated by food safety authorities. [JOONGANG ILBO]

Authorities caught a restaurant in Korea using ants in its dishes without proper authorization, violating food safety regulations.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said on Thursday that it referred a restaurant operator and the associated business entity to prosecutors for violating the Food Sanitation Act.

The ministry launched an investigation after spotting blog posts and social media content showing a specific restaurant serving dishes topped with ants.

Under current Korean regulations, only 10 insect species — including locusts and mealworms — are approved as edible. Ants are not recognized as a legal ingredient.

Investigators from the ministry's Central Investigation Team for Food Safety Crimes found that the operator imported two types of dried ant products from the United States and Thailand using international mail from April 2021 to November 2024.

The restaurant used three to five ants as garnish on certain menu items to add acidity from April 2021 to January this year.

Over the course of three years and nine months, the restaurant served roughly 12,000 such dishes, generating approximately 120 million won ($87,400) in revenue.

“To use ants as food, businesses must obtain temporary approval for standards and specifications under food safety regulations,” a Ministry of Food and Drug Safety official said. “We have shared the results of this investigation with the relevant local government and requested administrative action.”

Translated from the JoongAng Ilbo using generative AI and edited by Korea JoongAng Daily staff.
BY RHEE ESTHER [[email protected]]