South Korea's food safety authority uncovered dozens of convenience stores and unmanned cafes storing expired products or operating under poor hygiene conditions, raising concerns over food safety at outlets frequently used by children and teenagers.
The Ministry of Food and Drug Safety said Friday it had identified 30 establishments in violation of the Food Sanitation Act after inspecting 4,648 convenience stores and unmanned cafes selling coffee, chicken and other items between November 4 and 11, in cooperation with local governments.
Of 3,502 convenience stores inspected, 24 were caught violating regulations. Violations included storing or selling products past their consumption deadline (13 stores), failure to conduct health examinations (10 stores) and facility standard violations such as missing lids on waste containers (1 store).
Among 1,146 unmanned cafes and similar outlets inspected, 6 were found in violation. The main breaches were violations of standards and specifications (3 outlets), failure to comply with operator obligations such as missing daily inspection logs (2 outlets) and storing or selling expired products (1 outlet). The inspection also included testing of 210 items such as beverages from unmanned cafes, with three samples failing to meet bacterial count standards.
Local authorities will impose administrative measures on the violators and conduct follow-up inspections within six months to verify corrective actions.
In April, the ministry inspected 6,321 unmanned ice cream and snack vending outlets located near schools, private academy districts and apartment complex shopping arcades, identifying 147 stores that had stored or displayed products past their consumption deadline.
"We conducted these inspections to strengthen safety management at convenience stores and unmanned food retail outlets that are frequently used by children and teenagers," a Ministry of Food and Drug Safety official said. "We will carry out additional inspections in the second half of the year."
