Over the past four years, 1,254 cases of mass food poisoning have occurred nationwide... Salmonella increases every year

(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Shin Seon-mi = It has been revealed that over 1,000 mass food poisoning incidents have occurred across the country over the past four years.

In particular, salmonella food poisoning is increasing every year, and food poisoning accidents continue to occur in restaurants and schools, so it is pointed out that highly effective prevention measures must be developed.

According to data received from the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety by Rep. Heo Jong-sik of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly Health and Welfare Committee, on the 6th, there were a total of 1,254 mass food poisoning incidents that occurred across the country over the four years from 2022 to last year.

The average number of occurrences per year is 313.5, which means that it occurs almost once a day.

By year, it increased from 311 cases in 2022 to 359 cases in 2023, decreased to 265 cases in 2024, and increased again to 319 cases last year.

Looking at the number of cases over the past four years by region, Gyeonggi has the highest number of cases with 189, followed by Busan with 158 cases and Seoul with 138 cases.

By cause, salmonella food poisoning increased every year to 44 cases in 2022, 48 cases in 2023, 58 cases in 2024, and 79 cases last year.

Over the past four years, a total of 229 cases of salmonella food poisoning have occurred, which is more than food poisoning caused by norovirus (216 cases).

Additionally, 34.1% were cases of ‘unknown cause’ (427 cases) in which the causative bacteria could not be identified through epidemiological investigations.

When looking at the mass food poisoning that occurred over the past four years by location, the largest number of cases occurred in restaurants, with 726 cases (57.9%).

In addition, 111 food poisoning incidents occurred at school cafeterias.

Last year alone, 36 food poisoning accidents were confirmed in schools, which is three times the number of food poisoning accidents in daycare cafeterias (12 cases) in the same year.

Rep. Heo Jong-sik said, "Over the past four years, more than half of food poisoning occurred in restaurants, and the number of cases in which the causative bacteria could not be identified reaches one in three. We need to closely analyze the characteristics of outbreaks by cause and facility, focusing on restaurants and group cafeterias, to increase the effectiveness of preventive measures such as on-site inspections and hygiene education."