Coffee chains found violating food safety laws

Cafes are everywhere these days, with Koreans consuming coffee more frequently than staples like rice or kimchi last year.

But they might reconsider their habit after learning that a number of coffee franchises have been found to be in violation of food safety laws.

There have been 307 violations between June 2011 and June 2015, according to a report released by the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety as part of a national audit conducted by Rep. In Jae-keun of the opposition New Politics Alliance for Democracy, who sits on the Health and Welfare Committee.

Caffe Bene was the most frequent offender of the 10 major coffee purveyors polled, with 62 violations. Other chains included Angel-in-us, Ediya Coffee, Tom N Toms, Hollys Coffee, A Twosome Place, Pascucci and Coffine Gurunaru, as well as multinationals Starbucks and Coffee Bean Korea.

Tom N Toms had the second-most violations, followed by Angel-in-us and Hollys Coffee.

Coffine Gurunaru had the fewest infractions, while Starbucks and Coffee Bean each had a modest 11.

By type of violation, failure to properly conduct food-safety training was the most frequent at 81, followed by operating outside of designated premises.

More troubling, there were 27 cases of products being sold past their expiration date.

Rep. In called on the government to thoroughly monitor the coffee shops on top of the list.

“Coffee has become the favorite food item for many Koreans,” the lawmaker said. “The government should carefully investigate those coffee shops”

People drank an average of 12.2 cups of coffee per week in 2014, according to a survey by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs and the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation.

BY PARK EUN-JEE [park.eunjee@joongang.co.kr]