Franchise Store in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do
Head Office: "Vinyl Gloves Used by Staff Mistake During Cooking Process..."
District Office: "Administrative Action Planned for Food Sanitation Law Violation"
On the 15th, Yonhap News reported that a vinyl glove was found in a hamburger from a famous domestic franchise.
Vinyl gloves used for food preparation were found in products from a famous domestic hamburger franchise. [Photo by Yonhap News]
Mr. A discovered a vinyl glove while eating a hamburger he ordered for delivery last month on the 19th from a store located in Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province. When he had eaten about half of the hamburger, a vinyl sanitary glove used during food preparation was found between the chicken patty and vegetables. When he contacted the store, the manager collected the problematic hamburger.
The manager, who said he would investigate the cause of the vinyl glove being included, changed his attitude immediately after collecting the item. Without consulting the customer, he canceled the order through the delivery app and did not keep his promise to check the circumstances under which the vinyl glove appeared. When Mr. A contacted him, the manager responded with statements such as, "I asked the employee who made the hamburger, and they said that could not have happened," "They said they do not use sanitary gloves," and "Since you did not get sick after eating the food, we cannot provide compensation."
Denouncing the manager’s denial of fault, Mr. A immediately protested to the headquarters, but the headquarters’ only response was to acknowledge that the vinyl glove was included due to an employee’s mistake during the preparation process.
"I don’t understand why compensation is only provided if you get sick or have a stomachache after finding a foreign object in the food. The company’s response is inadequate," Mr. A said, and he reported the incident to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety. The local district office confirmed through an investigation of the store that the vinyl glove was accidentally included during the hamburger preparation process. It was reported that the store admitted fault following the district office’s findings.
The district office stated, "We plan to take administrative action for violation of the Food Sanitation Act," and added, "We conducted hygiene education for the business operator and instructed them to thoroughly manage food hygiene."
After the news broke, the headquarters was reported to have even lied, saying, "We asked Mr. A how much compensation he wanted, but there was no response." Later, they explained, "Incorrect information was conveyed during the internal reporting process," and said, "We held an internal meeting and decided to visit the customer to apologize and discuss appropriate compensation."
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