"My tooth broke" and "Vermicelli was used"... Complaints over hit dessert 'Dujjonku' surge along with its popularity

[Financial News] As Dubai Chewy Cookie (Dujjonku) has gained almost explosive popularity, related consumer complaints have also surged.

According to an analysis released on the 15th by Jung Il-young, a member of the National Assembly Finance and Economy Committee from the Democratic Party of Korea, based on data from the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission (ACRC), the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and the Korea Consumer Agency (KCA), there were virtually no statistics on complaints related to Dujjonku from January 2024 through October last year. However, the number began to rise sharply from November last year.

In particular, a product that barely appeared in the statistics at the start of the trend was classified as an "item requiring management" in just three months. Complaints related to Dujjonku increased from one case in November last year to 15 cases in December, then jumped to 118 cases last month. Of these, 90 cases have been answered, while 28 are still being processed.
In the same month, there were a total of 2,042 complaints concerning desserts and confectionery products. Dujjonku-related complaints accounted for about 6% of the total, which observers described as unusual for a single product to take up such a large share of complaints in such a short period of time.
The Integrated Food Safety Administration System of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety also showed no reports or enforcement actions from January 2024 through October last year. Then, between November last year and January this year, a total of 19 administrative measures were taken over three months, including 18 cases of administrative guidance and one criminal complaint.
At the 1372 Consumer Counseling Center of the Korea Consumer Agency, there were zero Dujjonku-related consultations in 2024 and only one case last year, but the number has risen to 26 so far this year.

Complaints related to the ingredients used in Dujjonku have drawn particular attention. Dujjonku is a type of dessert made by mixing pistachio spread with kadaif, a Turkish-style noodle pastry, and then wrapping it in a marshmallow-based dough.
Some complaints revealed that while advertisements claimed that kadaif noodles were used, in reality the product contained a mixture that included vermicelli, a type of rice noodle. Other cases included a consumer whose tooth broke on a foreign object believed to be a pistachio shell while eating the product, and a dispute in which a company unilaterally canceled an online order and offered a refund only in the form of store credit.

Jung Il-young stated, "Dujjonku barely appeared in the statistics at first, but in a short period it has turned into a high-risk item, with complaints, consultations, and administrative actions all rising at the same time." He added, "In line with the speed of the trend, the government must overhaul safety and hygiene management across all stages of import, production, and distribution, as well as labeling, advertising, and online sales controls, to preemptively prevent consumer harm."

y27k@fnnews.com Seo Yoon-kyung Reporter