Hygiene Inspections on Eateries Tightened
It is not all that rare an experience to feel upset after coming across dirty dishes or bowls while eating out. Perhaps, this is due to the lack of sanitary inspections ― after all half of restaurants here can get away without a single inspection throughout the year.
In order to deal with such complaints, Seoul City Hall has decided to have all restaurants inspected at least once annually. The strengthened inspections are being implemented immediately, city officials said.
Besides restaurants, bars and venders are also subject to the rule.
According to city officials, currently, random checks are conducted on only half of about 140,000 outlets every year, leaving the other half unchecked.
Last year, about 30 percent received one visit from city inspectors, while less than one quarter got checked on a maximum of four occasions.
Under the new system, about 103 teams composed of city and district officials, and representatives from consumer advocacy groups will be responsible for effectively implementing the new revision.
Those located in Gangnam, southern Seoul, near the venues of the G20 summit, slated for November, will be the first to be targeted as well as those that weren't inspected last year.
The inspectors will monitor 39 standards, including the explicit notification of the origin of materials and state of hygiene.
In addition, city officials will encourage owners to submit the results of their self-conducted checks online.
For the past three years, about 7 percent of those inspected were cited for a variety of infractions.