Gwangju City, 32 Delivery Restaurants Caught for False Origin Labeling and More

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Seon-gang] The Civil Affairs Judicial Police Division of Gwangju Metropolitan City (Special Judicial Police) announced on the 8th that it had identified 32 cases of violations, including false origin labeling, during a special inspection of professional restaurants registered on delivery apps in the area ahead of the Lunar New Year holiday.

This inspection was carried out proactively to provide safe food to citizens, as the demand for delivery food rapidly increased due to COVID-19 and is expected to continue during the Lunar New Year holiday.

The inspection targeted restaurants registered on delivery apps that were suspected of hygiene vulnerabilities, such as discrepancies between delivery app business information and business registration information. From the 19th of last month to the 5th of this month, the focus was on checking origin labeling and hygiene conditions.

The inspection results revealed a total of 32 violations: ▲5 cases of false origin labeling for pork, beef, tofu, etc. ▲1 case of confusing origin labeling ▲7 cases of failure to label mandatory origin items ▲2 cases of violations in origin labeling methods ▲8 cases of using or storing expired products for cooking or sale ▲1 case of using unlabeled products ▲4 cases of violations of business operator compliance ▲4 cases of facility standard violations.

In particular, most of the businesses caught in this inspection operated in a way that completely blocked the interior from view using sheet vinyl or similar materials on the exterior, and were found to have poor hygiene management, including storing expired products, poor hygiene in the cooking area, and improper refrigeration and freezing storage conditions.

Among the violating businesses, 6 that violated origin labeling were reported to the relevant district offices for prompt administrative action. The remaining 26 businesses, which committed false or confusing origin labeling, stored expired products, or failed to comply with business operator requirements, will be directly investigated and subject to judicial measures.

Kim Hyun, head of the Civil Affairs Judicial Police Division, said, “When ordering food through delivery apps, it is essential to verify that the delivery business name and company information match and to carefully check the origin labeling. As demand for delivery food continues to rise due to COVID-19, we will strengthen investigations of targeted businesses to eradicate illegal activities.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.