CHANGWON — South Gyeongsang Province is cracking down on unlicensed food preparation and sales at internet cafes, pet cafes and indoor sports facilities. The province's special judicial police said on the 16th that they will conduct a two-week food safety inspection campaign at 30 venues across the province from the 19th through the 30th.
The targets include internet cafes, pet cafes and indoor sports facilities such as screen golf and screen baseball venues and roller-skating rinks. The special judicial police said food preparation and sales at such venues have increased as leisure activities have diversified.
The main focus is on unlicensed food service businesses that prepare and sell food without filing a business registration. At registered establishments, inspectors will check overall compliance with the Food Sanitation Act, including hygiene management in kitchens, the handling of unlabeled products, and the storage, use or sale of products past their expiration dates.
Internet cafes and pet cafes must file a separate food service business registration if they prepare and sell food, apart from the registration for their own line of business. They must also meet facility standards and comply with hygiene management rules, including health checkups for kitchen staff. By sector, internet cafes register as internet computer game facility providers, pet cafes as animal display businesses, and screen golf and screen baseball venues as virtual sports facility businesses.
Under the Food Sanitation Act, operating a food service business without the required registration is punishable by up to three years in prison or a fine of up to 30 million won. The special judicial police said they will take action against any violations found in accordance with relevant laws.
"The more frequently teenagers use an indoor leisure facility, the more thorough its food hygiene management needs to be," said Chun Seong-bong, head of the province's Public Safety Headquarters. "We will focus our enforcement on unlicensed food service operations to create a leisure environment where both teenagers and residents can feel safe."