Starbucks Korea apologizes for formaldehyde-fused freebies

Starbucks Korea's Summer Carry Bag [STARBUCKS KOREA]

Starbucks Korea issued a public apology Thursday regarding recent allegations that one of its giveaway items contains toxic chemicals.

The allegations were sparked by an anonymous online post on Blind, a social media app. The author of the post, who claimed to work for FITI Testing & Research Institute, wrote that formaldehyde was found in the Starbucks Summer Carry Bag, a picnic bag given to customers who had collected enough Starbucks “frequencies” — collectible coupons customers receive when they buy drinks.

Starbucks Korea in its statement acknowledged the existence of formaldehyde in its Summer Carry Bags through test results by an unnamed “national professional testing institute,” and apologized for “causing great concern and disappointment to customers due to this issue.”

The formaldehyde detection test on the bags showed 284-585 milligrams of formaldehyde was detected per kilogram in the outer layer of the bags that were unopened, with 29.8-724 milligrams of formaldehyde detected per kilogram in the inside layer of the bags.

Starbucks Korea announced measures to respond to the issue in their apology. The company will replace the Summer Carry Bags with new bags, with the additional option for customers who do not want a bag to receive an online gift card worth 30,000 won ($23).

Additionally, Starbucks Korea said that it plans to strengthen the inspection process for its products on a company-wide level. The quality management sector of the company will be expanded and reorganized, while a system will be established to hire more personnel to oversee the process.

“We will look back with a sense of desperation as to whether we had lost our original vision as a company when we started out 23 years ago,” read the statement by Starbucks Korea. “We once again express our sincere apologies to all our customers who have been troubled by this issue.”

BY LIM JEONG-WON [lim.jeongwon@joongang.co.kr]