Korea cracks down on 11 restaurants reusing food leftovers from customers

Restaurants that failed to observe basic hygiene, such as reusing leftover food from customers, were prosecuted en masse.

The Busan City Special Judicial Police Department conducted a special investigation targeting 225 food service businesses in Busan between April and May, revealing on June 8th that 11 violators were caught.

Eight of the businesses caught were caught reusing leftover food from customers.

What's more, when the investigator who was cracking down tried to serve the side dishes left behind to other customers, he was caught.

In the cafeteria where the business owner and employees are families, it is said that food and drink were secretly reused in the kitchen.

Two other restaurants were found to have been cracked down for disguising Chinese red pepper powder and Chinese freshwater clam soup as domestically produced, and one restaurant was found to be operating without reporting.

On the other hand, those who reuse food or drink or operate a restaurant without reporting will be punished with imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won. If the country of origin is falsely labeled, it will be punished by imprisonment for up to 7 years or a fine of up to 100 million won under the Act on Labeling of Country of Origin for Agricultural and Fishery Products.

If you witness an illegal act such as the reuse of side dishes at a restaurant, you can report it or provide information to the reporting center for fraudulent and defective food at the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety or the Citizen's Rights and Interests Committee.