Prosecutors in South Korea have asked a court to jail the owner of a two-Michelin-starred restaurant in Seoul for one year over a dessert topped with ants, an insect not approved for consumption under the country's food safety law. The case, which also seeks a 20m won (£10,108) fine for the restaurant's operating company, highlights the strict regulation of novel food ingredients in South Korea and comes as authorities crack down on unauthorised use of insects in cuisine, even amid growing global interest in entomophagy.

The restaurant, in Seoul's upmarket Gangnam district, is accused of importing dried ants from the US and Thailand from 2021 and serving a sorbet dessert sprinkled with them for around four years, without obtaining the required temporary approval. Prosecutors say the dish was sold about 12,200 times for roughly 120m won (£60,647) in revenue, using an estimated 49,000 ants, though the defence disputes this figure, noting only around 60% of customers accepted the topping. The investigation began after food safety officials spotted mentions of the dishes on blogs and social media, rather than through routine inspection; sentencing is scheduled for 2 September.