Dead Frog Found in School Meal... Court Rules "Business Suspension of Contractor Justified"

A subcontracted company that received a business suspension order due to an incident where a 'frog carcass' was found in high school meal side dishes filed an appeal but lost in the first trial.

The photo is unrelated to the article content. [Image source=Pixabay]

According to the legal community on the 1st, Judge Park Ji-sook of the Seoul Administrative Court, Administrative Division 9, recently ruled against Company A in the first trial of the lawsuit filed by Company A against the Mayor of Nowon-gu, Seoul, seeking cancellation of the business suspension order.

At the end of February last year, Company A signed a service contract to subcontract part of the school meals at a certain high school for about one year. Accordingly, Company A's cooks, assistant nutritionists, and kitchen workers were assigned to the school cafeteria.

However, on July 5 of the same year, a student found a frog carcass about 1 cm in diameter in a side dish of seasoned Purslane. The Nowon-gu authorities issued a '5-day business suspension' order to Company A.

Company A filed an administrative lawsuit. During the trial, they argued that "the school nutrition teacher, who was responsible for selecting, purchasing, and inspecting ingredients, bears the greatest responsibility," and "the scope of Company A's service under the contract was limited to 'cooking, serving, transporting, cleaning, washing, and other kitchen operation support tasks necessary for school meals.' The staff could not disobey the nutrition teacher's instructions," they claimed.

In fact, the school nutrition teacher was found to have confirmed the presence of the frog carcass in the Purslane during the ingredient inspection on the day of the incident. Although Company A's staff suggested returning or discarding the Purslane, the nutrition teacher instructed them to "remove the foreign object mixed in and use the Purslane as is for cooking, considering the characteristics of eco-friendly ingredients."

Company A also argued that "due to the business suspension, there is a high possibility of facing a serious management crisis if they are unable to participate in bids or are restricted from new contracts for a considerable period," claiming that the punishment was too severe.

The first trial dismissed Company A's claim. The court pointed out, "It appears that the nutrition teacher's instructions were the main cause of the frog carcass being served in the meal."

However, the court also stated, "Since the frog carcass was already found during the inspection process, if Company A's staff had exercised sufficient care during the washing and cooking of the ingredients, it would have been possible to detect and remove the foreign object in this case," emphasizing that "according to the contract, the company is also responsible for properly pre-processing ingredients by purpose according to the menu during the daily side dish cooking process."

Furthermore, "If foreign objects are mixed into school meals, it can pose serious risks to the health and safety of many students. There is a significant public interest in imposing sanctions appropriate to the violation to prevent similar acts from recurring," the court stated.

As Company A appealed, this case will be subject to a second trial.

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