Seongdong-gu Conducts Joint Inspection to Prevent Food Poisoning in Schools and Kindergartens for New Semester

Hygiene Inspection for 32 School and Kindergarten Group Meal Sites to Ensure Food Poisoning Prevention Compliance
Efforts to Create a Safe Meal Environment for Children Including 'Children's Food Poisoning Prevention Puppet Show' Education for Daycare Centers

Seongdong-gu, Seoul (Mayor Jung Won-oh) announced that it conducted a joint inspection to prevent food poisoning targeting group meal service facilities in local schools and kindergartens in preparation for the new semester.

From March 7 to 22, Seongdong-gu inspected 32 group meal service facilities in schools and kindergartens within the district, and plans to complete inspections of the remaining 30 facilities in the second half of the year.

The inspection team consisted of a total of 10 members divided into 5 groups: 5 public officials from the Seongdong-gu Office Health and Hygiene Division, 2 members from the Seongdong-Gwangjin Office of Education, and 3 consumer food hygiene inspectors.

The main inspection items included ▲compliance with food poisoning prevention rules ▲expiration of food ingredient consumption dates ▲adherence to hygienic handling standards of food ▲cleaning and disinfection management of meal service facilities and utensils.

The inspection results showed that hygiene management conditions were all satisfactory, and frequently served cooked foods provided at group meal service facilities were separately collected and sent to the Seoul Institute of Health and Environment for additional testing.

Seongdong-gu is creating a safe and healthy food environment by establishing an efficient food poisoning prevention management and rapid response system in response to increased risk factors of food poisoning due to changes in dietary habits such as the development of dining-out culture and activation of group meal services.

In particular, to ensure safety in meals for children and create a safe food environment, from July to November, a “Children’s Food Poisoning Prevention Puppet Show” will be conducted targeting daycare centers in the district to educate on proper handwashing methods, balanced eating, and eradication of consumption of harmful foods.

Additionally, measures being implemented include ▲operation of a rapid response system in case of food poisoning and focused management of vulnerable facilities ▲support of hygiene supplies for food poisoning prevention in group meal service facilities ▲inspections of group meal service facilities (schools, kindergartens, daycare centers) in the first and second halves of the year ▲inspections of group meal service facilities (other than schools, kindergartens, daycare centers) during the summer season ▲food poisoning prevention through hygiene guidance inspections and food poisoning prevention diagnostic consulting.

Jung Won-oh, Mayor of Seongdong-gu, stated, "We will do our best to prevent food poisoning accidents through continuous inspections of group meal service facilities in schools and kindergartens and to create a safe meal environment for children."