According to a JTBC news report on September 25, as many as 80% of all registered water bottle brands sold in Korea have violated sanitation laws over the past 5 years.

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80% of water bottle brands within Korea means approximately 49 brands. It was also discovered that several of those brands have more than one violation, repeating the same violations due to loose enforcement of sanitation laws.

A portion of data from the Ministry of Environment indicated that in order for a water bottle brand to receive a warning, the amount of bacteria found in the water must surpass more than 24 times the standard amount. If the bacteria surpasses 30 times the standard, the brand is then ordered to halt production for a limited number of days, in addition to receiving a fine.

Once the issue came to the attention of netizens, they demanded to know exactly which brands have a record of violating sanitation laws, on account of the public's "right to know". Some netizens commented, "Just boil tap water", "Never buying bottled water again", and more. Others added, "What is even safe in this country", "I hate articles like this... what's the point if you're not even going to tell us the brand names", "A fine? That's it?" and more.

Previously this year, Korea suffered from controversies dealing with the safety hazard of eating eggs with harmful insecticide as well as harmful chemicals found in women's menstrual products.