MFDS Inspects 5,306 High-Traffic Restaurants... 74 Violations Found

38 Locations Without Health Inspections and 19 Violations of Hygienic Handling Standards
Reinspection Within 6 Months After Administrative Actions to Confirm Improvements

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Young-won] The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 13th that it had inspected over 5,000 multi-use restaurants such as family restaurants and buffets, and found 74 locations violating the Food Sanitation Act.

In preparation for Family Month in May, the Ministry conducted focused inspections on 5,306 multi-use restaurants from the 18th to the 22nd of last month in cooperation with local governments. The inspection targets were family restaurants, buffets, and delivery food establishments that had no inspection history or had administrative sanctions within the past two years.

Previously, the Ministry had conducted quarterly focused inspections on delivery food establishments with high consumption items. In the first quarter of last year, they inspected jokbal (pig's trotters) and bossam (boiled pork wraps), chicken in the second quarter, bunsik (Korean snack foods) in the third quarter, and pizza delivery establishments in the fourth quarter. This time, they inspected Chinese food delivery establishments.

The violations found in the 74 establishments were as follows: 38 for failure to conduct health examinations, 19 for violations of hygienic handling standards, 6 for facility standard violations, 5 for storing raw materials past their expiration date, 3 for not wearing hygiene caps, 2 for non-compliance with cooking and management standards in customer service establishments, and 1 for non-compliance with business operator obligations.

These establishments will be administratively sanctioned by the relevant authorities and re-inspected within six months to verify improvements.

The Ministry also collected 169 food samples from restaurants to test for food poisoning bacteria such as Salmonella and enterohemorrhagic Escherichia coli. Of these, 119 samples met the standards and specifications, while the remaining 50 samples are still under examination, with administrative actions planned based on the results.

A Ministry official stated, "We will continue to strengthen safety management of foods widely consumed by the public and take strict measures against intentional illegal activities to create a safe food environment."

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