South Korean restaurant owner avoids jail time in ‘ants on a plate’ accusation

Ministry of Food and Drug Safety

The owner of a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in South Korea has avoided prison time in a highly publicized case surrounding a sorbet dessert topped with ants.

On September 16, the Seoul Western District Court fined the owner of the restaurant 15 million won ($11,000). The owner was identified only as a woman with the last name Kim, and the restaurant was not publicly named. The restaurant’s chef was not charged with any wrongdoing.

Prosecutors had sought a one-year jail term for the owner and a 20 million won ($13,580) fine, citing a profit of 120 million won ($81,470) over the past four years.

The problem isn’t that insects appeared on the menu.

Rather, the issue is South Korea’s nuanced food laws, which regulate which insects can go on diners’ plates.

In July, the prosecutor’s office told CNN that the eatery in question has been serving dried ants brought in from the US and Thailand since 2021.

They alleged that the restaurant had served about 49,000 ants in 12,200 sherbet dishes.

According to the government, it wasn’t merely the presence of ants in food that was an issue. The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said investigators “found the ants from this restaurant contained heavy metal levels up to 55 times the maximum limit allowed for other edible insects.”

In making his ruling, the judge noted that there was a potential health risk because heavy metals above the permitted level were found in ants sold by the restaurant.

However, when determining the sentence, the judge took into account that the amount of ants used appeared to be less than the amount calculated by prosecutors, and that Kim had no prior criminal record.

Advocates in South Korea and elsewhere have increasingly argued that insects are just as reliable a source of protein as other animal products. Given how easily they are raised and harvested with fewer resources than are needed for more traditional livestock, insects present an effective way to combat climate change.

South Korean cuisine doesn’t frown on insects. Beondegi, for example, is a traditional steamed silkworm pupa snack served by street vendors in paper cups.

But under the country’s Food Sanitation Act, only 10 insect species, including grasshoppers and silkworms, are permitted for human consumption. Serving any other insect — like ants — requires special approval from authorities.

Lawyers representing the restaurant said its chef used ants to add acidity to the dish, without realizing that the recipe he once used in the US and Europe is legally banned in South Korea, local media reported.

They also said the restaurant only served ants to about 60% of the customers and that the ants were clearly identified on the menu as part of the dish.

Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images

According to a 2013 report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, at least two billion people worldwide already eat bugs every day.

The most commonly eaten insect groups globally are ants, beetles, bees, caterpillars, cicadas, crickets, dragonflies, flies, grasshoppers, leaf bugs, locusts, scale insects, termites and wasps, according to the FAO.

The trend has gained traction in Europe and the United States in recent years: a report by Global Market Insights previously projected the US edible insect market would grow to nearly $80 million by 2024, with Europe also logging growth.

Among those avidly promoting edible insects in the West is New York City-based chef Joseph Yoon , executive director of Brooklyn Bugs, an organization that wants to change diners’ perceptions of creepy crawlies. Yoon has made tarantula tempura and caramel popcorn with grasshoppers in his work as a guest chef and advocate.

In Copenhagen, Alchemist, a two-Michelin-starred establishment currently ranked No. 5 on The World’s 50 Best Restaurants list, teamed up with scientists to ferment dairy products with the help of both live and frozen ants. It resulted in a popular “ant-wich,” ice cream sandwiched between ant-shaped cookies with an ant-infused gel .

EDITOR’S NOTE: This story was originally published in July 2026 and has been updated with additional information.

食品药品安全部

韩国一家米其林二星餐厅的老板因一道上面放着蚂蚁的冰沙甜点而备受瞩目，最终却免于牢狱之灾。

9月16日，首尔西部地方法院对一家餐厅的老板处以1500万韩元（约合1.1万美元）的罚款。老板的身份仅被确认为一名金姓女性，餐厅名称也未公开。餐厅厨师未被指控任何不当行为。

检察官要求判处店主一年监禁并处以 2000 万韩元（13580 美元）的罚款，理由是该店主在过去四年中获利 1.2 亿韩元（81470 美元）。

问题不在于菜单上出现了昆虫。

问题不在于昆虫本身，而在于韩国细致入微的食品法律，这些法律规定了哪些昆虫可以出现在食客的餐盘中。

今年 7 月，检察官办公室告诉 CNN，涉事餐馆自 2021 年以来一直在供应从美国和泰国进口的干蚂蚁。

他们声称该餐厅在 12200 份冰沙中供应了约 49000 只蚂蚁。

政府表示，问题不仅仅在于食物中出现了蚂蚁。食品药品安全部称，调查人员“发现这家餐厅的蚂蚁体内重金属含量高达其他食用昆虫允许最高限量的55倍”。

法官在做出裁决时指出，由于在餐馆出售的蚂蚁中发现了超过允许水平的重金属，因此存在潜在的健康风险。

然而，在确定刑罚时，法官考虑到所用蚂蚁的数量似乎少于检察官计算的数量，而且金某此前没有犯罪记录。

韩国及其他地区的倡导者们日益强调，昆虫与其他动物产品一样，都是可靠的蛋白质来源。鉴于昆虫的养殖和收获比传统牲畜所需资源更少，它们为应对气候变化提供了一种有效途径。

韩国料理并不排斥昆虫。例如，蚕蛹蒸糕（Beondegi）就是一种传统的蒸蚕蛹小吃，通常由街头小贩用纸杯盛装出售。

但根据该国的《食品卫生法》，只有包括蚱蜢和蚕在内的10种昆虫允许人类食用。食用其他任何昆虫——例如蚂蚁——都需要获得当局的特别批准。

据当地媒体报道，代表该餐厅的律师表示，其厨师使用蚂蚁来增加菜肴的酸度，却没有意识到他曾在美国和欧洲使用过的食谱在韩国是被法律禁止的。

他们还表示，这家餐厅只向大约 60% 的顾客提供了蚂蚁，而且菜单上明确标明蚂蚁是这道菜的一部分。

Artur Widak/NurPhoto/Getty Images

根据联合国粮食及农业组织 2013 年的一份报告，全世界至少有 20 亿人每天食用昆虫。

据联合国粮农组织称，全球最常被食用的昆虫类群有：蚂蚁、甲虫、蜜蜂、毛虫、蝉、蟋蟀、蜻蜓、苍蝇、蚱蜢、叶蝉、蝗虫、介壳虫、白蚁和黄蜂。

近年来，这一趋势在欧洲和美国获得了发展动力：Global Market Insights 此前的一份报告预测，到 2024 年，美国食用昆虫市场将增长到近 8000 万美元，欧洲也出现了增长。

在西方积极推广食用昆虫的人士中，包括纽约市的厨师约瑟夫·尹（Joseph Yoon）。他同时也是布鲁克林昆虫组织（Brooklyn Bugs）的执行董事，该组织致力于改变食客对昆虫的固有印象。尹曾以客座厨师和倡导者的身份制作过狼蛛天妇罗和蚱蜢焦糖爆米花等美食。

在哥本哈根，米其林二星餐厅Alchemist（目前在世界50佳餐厅榜单中排名第五）与科学家合作，利用活蚂蚁和冷冻蚂蚁发酵乳制品。由此诞生了一种广受欢迎的“蚂蚁三明治”，即用蚂蚁形状的饼干夹着冰淇淋，并涂抹了注入蚂蚁的凝胶。

编者按：本文最初发表于 2026 年 7 月，现已更新更多信息。