3,133 Food Sanitation Act Violations at Franchise Restaurants Over Past Five Years

2,189 Violations at Top 20 Companies, Accounting for 70% of Total
Fried Chicken Sector Leads with 1,139 Cases, Followed by Cafes and Hamburger Chains
37% Involve Foreign Substances; Most Result in Fines or Corrective Orders

Over the past five years, more than 3,000 violations of the Food Sanitation Act have been detected at franchise restaurants in the food service industry.

According to data released on September 4 by Assemblywoman Seo Mihwa of the Democratic Party of Korea, a member of the National Assembly's Health and Welfare Committee, the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety found a total of 3,133 violations at franchise restaurants across nine food service sectors, including fried chicken and cafes, from 2020 through last year. Of these, the top 20 companies accounted for 2,189 cases, representing about 70% of the total.

By company, BBQ had the highest number of violations with 201 cases, followed by BHC (186 cases), Mom's Touch (172 cases), Mega Coffee (158 cases), Compose Coffee (153 cases), Goobne Chicken (140 cases), Lotteria (126 cases), and Kyochon Chicken (122 cases).

By business type, fried chicken restaurants accounted for the most violations with 1,139 cases (36.4%), followed by cafes (617 cases, 19.7%), hamburger restaurants (471 cases, 15.0%), tteokbokki restaurants (330 cases, 10.5%), pizza restaurants (267 cases, 8.5%), and malatang restaurants (219 cases, 7.0%).

Regarding the types of violations, "standards and specifications violations," such as foreign substances found in food, accounted for the most with 1,158 cases (37%). This was followed by failure to complete hygiene education with 968 cases (30.9%), violation of sanitary handling standards with 336 cases (10.7%), failure to conduct health examinations with 216 cases (6.9%), and violations of business operator compliance requirements with 185 cases (5.9%).

In terms of administrative actions, minor penalties such as fines (1,451 cases) and corrective orders (1,321 cases) accounted for 88.5% of the total. Business suspensions were issued in 167 cases (5.3%), surcharges in 110 cases (3.5%), and only one case resulted in business closure.

By year, there were 491 cases in 2020, 501 in 2021, 662 in 2022, 759 in 2023, and 720 last year, marking a 46.6% increase over the five-year period.

Assemblywoman Seo stated, "There can be no compromise when it comes to food safety," adding, "Not only the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety and local governments, but also franchise headquarters must take an active role in supervising hygiene at their franchise locations."