Gyeongnam Office of Education Cracks Down on 'Front Companies' Supplying School Meals

Joint Special Inspection Conducted by Related Agencies

Gyeongnam Office of Education will conduct a special inspection of school meal supply companies.

The provincial Office of Education announced on the 7th that it will promote a joint special inspection with related agencies regarding the so-called 'disguised company' issue raised at the 2023 School Meal Quality Improvement Meeting held at the provincial Office of Education on the 15th of last month.

According to the provincial Office of Education, the inspection will first target the Changwon, Gimhae, and Yangsan areas, where many companies are located.

The inspection will be conducted around March to April, selecting companies based on a full survey of the meal supply status of schools in the relevant areas.

Gyeongnam Office of Education.
Photo by Lee Seryeong

The joint special inspection team will consist of 20 members from 5 teams, including the provincial Office of Education, Gyeongnam Provincial Special Judicial Police, Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), city hall sanitation officials, nutritionists and nutrition teachers, and parents.

The inspection team will check ▲ whether companies deliver products from locations other than their registered addresses ▲ use of food ingredients without origin labeling and use of spoiled or deteriorated food (raw materials) ▲ delivery of ingredients close to expiration and compliance with storage standards ▲ delivery using vehicles other than contracted ones ▲ whether workers have completed health checkups and hygiene education.

Last year, the provincial Office of Education, together with the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation (aT), conducted dawn inspections on 17 companies reported as suspected disguised operators, and the Korea Agro-Fisheries & Food Trade Corporation imposed a three-month suspension of the procurement system (eaT) usage on 8 companies.

An official from the provincial Office of Education explained, “In addition to the special inspection, we will establish a regular inspection system to strengthen the role of school-level meal committees, which had been sluggish due to COVID-19, and the education support office plans to operate a permanent school meal inspection team.”

Yoo Sang-jo, Director of the Education Welfare Division, said, “Through this special and regular inspection, we will ensure that safe and healthy ingredients are delivered to schools.”

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