The Seoul West District Court on September 16 sentenced the representative of Evertont restaurant, Ms. Kim, to 15 million won (about 11,000 USD), and fined the restaurant operating company 10 million won for violating the Korean Food Hygiene Law.
Evertont is a 2-Michelin-starred restaurant located in Gangnam, Seoul. The restaurant was founded by Australian chef Joseph Lidgerwood. Mr. Lidgerwood is not the defendant in the case. The defendant is Ms. Kim, 41 years old, legal representative of the restaurant operating company.
According to the case file, the restaurant imported dried ants from the US and Thailand from 2021, then used this insect to decorate some dishes for about 4 years. The most mentioned dish is sorbet combined with sikhye - a traditional sweet rice drink of Korea - with ants added to the surface.
According to Korean food safety regulations, only 10 species of insects are allowed to be used as food ingredients, including grasshoppers, pupae and silkworm pupae. Ants are not on this list. Businesses wanting to use an unapproved insect species must apply for temporary approval from the food safety management agency, but restaurants do not carry out this procedure.
The incident was discovered by authorities after information about ant-using dishes appeared on blogs and social networks. Prosecutors estimated that about 49,096 ants were used to serve 12,274 customers, generating revenue of about 120 million won. However, the restaurant argued that not all diners chose the ant portion on the dish, so the actual number may be lower than the number the prosecutor gave.
The court held that the violation could not be considered light, especially when the dish using ants was once put into promotion by the restaurant. Test results also showed that the ants used had heavy metal content exceeding the permitted level.
Previously, on July 20, the prosecutor proposed to sentence Ms. Kim to 1 year in prison and fine the restaurant operating company 20 million won. When deciding on the sentence, the court considered that the defendants admitted their actions, had no prior convictions and seemed not fully aware that ants are not allowed to be used as raw materials in Korea, while this type of insect is used as food in some countries. The restaurant also stopped using ants at the request of functional agencies.
The incident attracted attention in the context that South Korea is strengthening food safety inspections at famous restaurants. According to data from functional agencies cited by Seoul Economic Daily, in the period 2023-2025, 17 establishments on the Michelin Guide were found to have violated the Food Safety Law a total of 21 times.
In June 2026, the Korean Food and Drug Administration conducted a special inspection of 1,720 restaurants rated as popular, including establishments under the Michelin Guide. Functional agencies discovered 45 establishments with violations and are taking handling measures.
