Despite COVID-19, Increasing Kids Cafes... Safety and Hygiene Neglected

1451 Cases of Damage Over 5 Years
Falls and Collisions Account for 95.5%
20 Electrical Cases and 13 Foreign Object Cases
103 Violations of the Food Sanitation Act Also Reported

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Housewife Kim visited a kids cafe last month and had a harrowing experience. Her child fell while sliding down a slide and suffered a bruised ankle. Kim said, "Fortunately, the injury was not serious, but we had to visit the hospital for a while," adding, "You can't let your guard down just because it's a kids cafe. It doesn't seem to be a completely safe place."

As the endemic era (periodic outbreaks of infectious diseases) has arrived, the number of consumers visiting kids cafes is increasing, but safety accidents such as falls and collisions, as well as violations of the Food Sanitation Act, are frequently occurring.

According to data obtained by Asia Economy on the 20th through the office of Rep. In Jae-geun of the Democratic Party of Korea from the Korea Consumer Agency and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, there were 70 reported cases of damage related to kids cafes and 10 violations of the Food Sanitation Act from January to May this year.

A kids cafe refers to a rest or general restaurant that installs playground equipment and provides paid play services while preparing and selling food and beverages to children or guardians. As of April this year, 1,014 kids cafes are operating nationwide. By region, the numbers were highest in Gyeonggi (350 locations), Seoul (144), Incheon (69), Gyeongnam (58), Gyeongbuk (48), Chungnam (46), and Busan (44).

In the past five years, 1,451 cases related to kids cafes have been reported to the Consumer Agency. By year, there were 351 cases in 2017, 387 in 2018, 397 in 2019, 150 in 2020, 96 last year, and 70 cases reported so far this year. The number of incidents, which had decreased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, is rising again this year as social distancing measures have been lifted and usage has increased.

By cause of harm, ‘physical impact’ such as falls and collisions accounted for 1,386 cases (95.5%), making up the majority. Other causes included 20 cases related to electricity and chemicals, 13 cases involving food and foreign substances, 20 product-related cases, 5 cases of fire, smoke, overheating, or gas, and 7 other cases.

Major cases include a 7-year-old boy who suffered burns on his hand after being electrocuted by an exposed wire at a kids cafe in February, and a 3-year-old boy who fell to the floor after a part detached from a rotating ride in October last year, experiencing head swelling, dizziness, and vomiting. Other incidents involved swallowing wooden block pieces or getting burns on the hand from hot water at a washbasin.

The number of damage relief applications totaled 70. By reason for application, contract-related issues such as refusal to refund after mid-term cancellation of season tickets accounted for 59 cases, followed by safety-related issues (6 cases), unfair practices (3 cases), and labeling/advertising (2 cases).

Rep. In said, "Despite the COVID-19 crisis, the number of kids cafes has increased, exceeding 1,000 nationwide as of the first half of 2022. With the lifting of social distancing, the scale of kids cafe usage is expected to grow further," adding, "Since kids cafe safety accidents were reported almost daily even before the COVID-19 outbreak, more active attention and meticulous management of hygiene and safety at kids cafes are necessary going forward."

There were also 103 cases of Food Sanitation Act violations at kids cafes detected from 2017 to May 2022. Violations included 37 cases of failure to conduct hygiene education, 23 cases of failure to conduct health checks, and 13 cases of storing products past their expiration date for cooking or sale. Most sanctions for these violations were fines (71 cases), followed by corrective orders (13 cases), penalties (8 cases), business suspension (5 cases), business closure (4 cases), and facility improvement orders (2 cases).

Professor Lee Eun-hee of Inha University’s Department of Consumer Studies said, "Because kids cafes target children, they must strictly comply with the Food Sanitation Act and thoroughly manage expiration dates," adding, "Many cases end with fines, but stronger measures should be taken if violations continue." She also advised, "There are clearly limits to government monitoring and supervision alone. It seems necessary to prepare checklists related to food sanitation so that kids cafes can conduct self-inspections and establish countermeasures."

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