Lotte Confectionery said Wednesday it is recalling 290,000 boxes of its White Cookie Pepero snacks worth 6.7 billion won ($5.84 million) manufactured between June and October, following continued customer complaints of a “bad odor” and an “odd taste.”

Since Nov. 12, Lotte has taken back 140,000 boxes of the Pepero -- the brand’s longtime best seller -- variety under question, around 50,000 of which were already sold to consumers. The snack brand is granting refunds to those who bought the defective snack.
 

The mass recall took place after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety received multiple consumer complaints about the white cookie-flavored Pepero and issued a recall recommendation to Lotte Confectionery.

The company said “the smell came from insufficiently dried ink on the paper box packaging,” claiming that the “the snack contents were uncontaminated.”

The Pepero snacks were reportedly hastily packaged and released in the market due to explosive demand ahead of the commonly celebrated “Pepero Day” on Nov. 11, according to the snack maker.

In addition to the white cookie-flavored Pepero, Lotte is also recalling 500 boxes of its almond Ghana chocolate bars, worth 15 million won, made on Oct. 30 due to similar complaints.

The company speculated that the chocolate bars were made near the problematic White Cookie Pepero production line, leading to the odor.

The Food Ministry is currently investigating the snack maker’s production site in Yangsan, South Gyeongsang Province.

Meanwhile, the company recalled all of its peanut Ghana chocolate bars in July, after the bars were found to have contained six times as much bacteria as the permitted amount.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)