Intensive Hygiene Inspection of Delivery Food Restaurants and Unmanned Stores Including Malatang and Ramen

MFDS Checks Compliance with Expiration Dates at Over 4,800 Locations

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety announced on the 6th that it will conduct intensive inspections of over 4,800 delivery food establishments and unmanned noodle vending stores that prepare and sell dishes such as Malatang and chicken from the 11th to the 15th.

On the 3rd, a foreign tourist visiting Neoguri's ramen shop set up at Skypark Myeongdong Branch 3 in Jung-gu, Seoul, is eating ramen. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

This inspection, carried out in cooperation with 17 local governments, aims to strengthen hygiene management of delivery and unmanned food sales as non-face-to-face consumption culture has become established in daily life after COVID-19. The inspection targets include specialized delivery food establishments such as Malatang and chicken restaurants, as well as unmanned stores selling noodles, ice cream, snacks, and other items without on-site operators.

For delivery food establishments, the inspection will comprehensively check compliance with food hygiene laws, focusing on areas with high violation rates such as ▲conducting health examinations ▲hygienic handling of food and cooking areas ▲facility standards including installation of insect screens and waste covers ▲storage and use of products past their expiration dates.

Unmanned food sales stores will be inspected mainly on hygienic handling of food, including ▲storage and display of products past their expiration dates ▲compliance with storage temperature ▲and the practice of opening and dividing foods packaged in minimum sales units to sell individually.

The inspection will focus on businesses that have not been inspected in the past year or have records of violations of the Food Sanitation Act, and approximately 100 cooked food samples from delivery food establishments will be randomly collected for testing of food poisoning bacteria and others.

According to Statistics Korea, the domestic delivery food market rapidly grew from 17.3 trillion won in 2020 to 26.4 trillion won last year. Since 2021, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety has selected high-consumption delivery foods such as Malatang, Yangkkochi, Chinese cuisine, Samgyetang, chicken, and Gimbap for inspections to strengthen safety management. Additionally, as unmanned food sales stores handle a variety of items including snacks, noodles, meal kits, and coffee, inspections have been intensified since 2022.

So far this year, a total of 10,418 delivery food establishments have been inspected, resulting in the detection of 50 cases of violations such as failure to conduct health examinations and poor hygiene. Among 1,576 unmanned stores inspected, 18 were found to have displayed or stored foods past their expiration dates.

The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety plans to strictly take administrative actions against violating businesses identified in this inspection.