Five restaurants that cater to Chinese tourists out of 15 investigated by Seoul Metropolitan Government were found to have violated sanitation regulations.
Out of the examined restaurants, three had employees that did not submit medical reports, one had kitchen staff without sanitary hats, while another had unhygienic cutting boards, the city government said Monday.
Chinese tourists in Seoul (Yonhap)
These restaurants failed to meet up to 26 standards out of 36 regarding hygienic cooking utensils.
They also ran their businesses under exclusive contracts with private travel agencies, without standard operating hours, which hindered transparent investigations.
For the restaurants exposed, Seoul City will issue fines and hand down orders for a suspension or closure of business.
Kim Chang-bo, who is in charge of the public health affairs at Seoul City, said he would “aggressively seek out restaurants that are frequented by tourist groups in order to provide hygienic food to foreign visitors to our city.”
The recent investigations were carried out after rumors spread regarding subpar ingredients and unclean environments at restaurants that specialize in serving Chinese tourists.
By Lim Jeong-yeo (
kaylalim@heraldcorp.com)