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Around 20% of Korea's malatang franchise restaurants accused of food safety violations

Published: 11 Feb. 2025, 18:09

LEE SOO-JUNG
[email protected]

Kitchen areas in malatang restaurants in Korea are shown as dirty. [MINISTRY OF FOOD AND DRUG SAFETY]

Around one-fifth of malatang (spicy hot soup) franchise restaurants in Korea were accused of violating food safety regulations, according to the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety on Tuesday.

A total of 119 food safety violations were reported from 600 major malatang franchise branches across the country between 2018 and 2023.

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The Food Ministry classifies a violation as a situation where unintended ingredients — such as mold, sand, pieces of glass and metal — are found in food products served to customers. It excludes vegetable peelings or animal hair and bones attached to meat, which cannot be perfectly removed during the cooking process, from its violations.

Foreign materials have also been found in processed ingredients, such as noodles, tofu and rice cakes mass-produced in factories. According to the ministry, metal wires were occasionally seen embedded inside glass noodles and rice cakes.

Two images show foreign objects mixed with malatang and the soup's ingredients [MINISTRY OF FOOD AND DRUG SAFETY]

The ministry also said improper sanitary measures among food-processing factory workers and kitchen staff — such as long nails and a lack of hygienic clothes — can be a route through which foreign substances can get mixed in with ingredients.

Storing sauces, which should be refrigerated, at room temperature can increase the likelihood of mold. Also, using steel scrubbers in kitchens can cause the debris of the scrubber to slip into soups accidentally.

The Food Ministry asked franchise owners and cooking personnel to thoroughly check their ingredients, especially whether insects are hidden inside vegetables or whether mold has grown on mushrooms. It also requested them to read the information on the labels of prepackaged foods carefully.

In Korea, the malatang business has grown in size over recent years, as it has gained traction among young people — from elementary students to those in their 20s. Data from the Korea Agro-Fisheries and Food Trade Corporation, cited by food conglomerate Otoki, found that the domestic malatang market was valued at about 100 billion won ($68 million) in 2022.

BY KIM EUN-BIN, LEE SOO-JUNG [[email protected]]