Esther Yeo, who made hundreds of billions in sales at shopping malls, was ‘accused’ by the former manager of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety… What happened?

Esther Yeo, a famous doctor who ran a health functional food shopping mall and earned hundreds of billions of won in sales, was accused by a former director of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

Gangnam Police Station in Seoul announced on the 3rd that it had started an investigation after receiving a complaint against Yeo, a famous family medicine specialist and broadcaster, last month.

Mr. Yeo is accused of violating the Food Labeling and Advertising Act by advertising products sold on the company’s online website.

Mr. A, a former manager at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety who reported Mr. Yeo, claimed, “Mr. Yeo is using his status as a doctor to deceive consumers.”

The main reason for Mr. A’s complaint is the false and exaggerated advertising of the products sold by Mr. Yeo. Mr. A’s alleged violation is Article 8, Paragraphs 1 to 5 of the Food Labeling and Advertising Act.

The law covers: △ Labeling or advertising that may lead to the perception that food, etc. is effective in the prevention or treatment of disease (Article 8, Paragraph 1) △ Labeling or advertising that may lead to the perception that food, etc. are medicines (Article 8, Paragraph 2) △ Health Labeling or advertising that may cause non-functional foods to be perceived as health functional foods (Article 8, Paragraph 3) and false or exaggerated labeling or advertising (Article 8, Paragraph 4) are prohibited.

Mr. A claims that more than half of the 400 products sold by Mr. Yeo at the online mall violated the applicable law.

Mr. A said, “When I was in office, I participated in the revision of the bill and cracked down on companies that violated it, but it has not yet been eradicated. In particular, I thought the use of my doctor’s status was a big problem, so I filed a complaint for the public interest.”

According to the Financial Supervisory Service’s electronic disclosure system, last year’s sales of Esther Formula Co., Ltd., headed by Mr. Yeo, were 201.63961 billion won, a 439% increase compared to 2019 (37.34214 billion won).

Mr. Yeo’s side refuted Mr. A’s claims. An official from the online shopping mall Esther Mall said, “All ongoing advertisements use only content that has passed the review of the Korea Health Functional Foods Association, so they cannot be viewed as false or exaggerated advertisements.” He added, “The interpretations of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and the Health Functional Foods Association are all “It does not match, so whether it is a false or exaggerated advertisement may vary depending on the interpretation,” he explained.