Leftover Food Reused at Famous Gwangju BBQ Restaurant
Washed with Blood Pudding Water and Reboiled Before Serving
Seasonings Like Oil Sauce, Kimchi, and Ssamjang Also Reused
An employee at a famous barbecue restaurant in Gwangju Metropolitan City has exposed that side dishes served to customers were being reused. According to the employee's revelation, the restaurant reused blood sausage by rinsing it with water and reused dipping sauces by straining them through a sieve.
Putting kimchi that was served on the guest's table back into the side dish container. [Photo by JTBC 'Sageon Banjang']
On the 20th, JTBC's 'Case Manager' reported the disclosure made by former employee A. A, who worked for a long time at a well-known restaurant mainly selling beef, yukhoe (Korean beef tartare), and pork, claimed, "Any dishes or chopsticks that have been in a person's mouth and come back are all reused."
In the video released by A, kimchi and red seasoning left on plates served to customers are scraped off with fingers and put back into the seasoning container. Remaining blood sausage from the seonji soup is placed in a basket, washed with water, and transferred to another plate. A explained, "Remaining fresh kimchi is washed with water and used again the next day. Leftover chili peppers from customers are chopped and put into salted seafood." He added, "Lettuce placed under the liver is washed repeatedly and reused 10 or 20 times. When blood sausage is placed in a large basket and water is sprayed, broth, green onions, and blood drain to the bottom. The separated meat and blood sausage are boiled again and served."
The scene of washing seonji served to customers with water and boiling it again. Photo by JTBC 'Sageonbanjang'
A stated, "Foods served as complimentary items like liver and cheonyeop (beef omasum) are also all reused," and claimed, "A barbecue restaurant with a daily sales of 7 million KRW produces only 15 liters of food waste per day." He further revealed, "The reuse of food was done under the owner's instructions," and explained the reason for reporting, "Seeing children dining with their families eating the food made me feel I could not tolerate this any longer."
As the controversy grew, the restaurant owner admitted, "It is true that food was reused," but shifted blame to the staff, saying, "It seems the employees reused the food because they felt it was wasteful, not me." He added, "The kitchen assistants probably did it because they felt sorry to throw away the food. I should have stopped it and will take disciplinary action," and defended, "The reused seonji soup was served to customers, but only the untouched parts were reused."
The restaurant is currently a famous establishment with a rating in the 4-point range out of 5 on map applications, with several hundred customer reviews. According to the Food Sanitation Act, reusing food can result in imprisonment for up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million KRW, and civil lawsuits are also possible.
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