The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) inspected 74 ice cream shops, fast food franchises, coffee houses and bakeries. Among the shops selling ice cream and ice, 18 shops sold products that contained more than the permitted levels of bacteria such as colon bacillus and staphylococcus aureus that can cause food poisoning.
A franchise in Gangnam-gu was found to have ice cream containing 220 colony forming units (cfu) per milliliter of colon bacillus, 22 times more than the level permitted.
As to ice, used mostly in ice coffee, 14 locations among 44 fast food franchises and coffee shops were found to be using contaminated ice.
The city government also inspected ``patbingsu,'' or shaved ice topped with fruits and red beans, at 24 bakeries and fast food chains. Among those, nine were found to be using bacteria-contaminated shaved ice. In these cases, SMG applied the same standards as for ice cream as it does not have separate standards for shaved ice.
In Korean here. You'll remember in May we learned about more unsafe ice being used at coffee and fastfood shops around the country. A Dunkin Donuts in Yeosu and a Tom n' Toms in Gwangju were among the offenders. I'm not sure the body conducting these recent tests, nor have I found a list of the stores in question.
3 comments:
I once saw a kid climb inside the free ice cream at a Galbi restaurant. Then his sister took the scooper out of the water next to the bin and put it in her mouth.
Just in case anyone was ever considering eating the free ice cream at meat restaurants in Korea.
I'm a man who likes his ice cream, though I need to lose a few pounds. (That a little thing of mint chocolate chip costs 6,000 won is incentive enough to avoid buying it.) Besides needing to get back in shape, a few other things have helped out. There's a little convenience store outside one of my schools, and both times I've eaten ice cream there I've become really sick (fever, dizziness, vomit). Coincidence, perhaps, who knows. And the last time I bought a thing of mint chocolate chip ice cream at the store I noticed how easily the top came off, and that there was no seal or anything around it. Not that I suspect Kim's Club employees would try anything, it's just that hygeine and sanitation being what they are here, and if the ice has a reputation for not being safe, I'll have to think twice about buying ice cream that comes in what essentially is an open container.
That said, after watching a few episodes of "Kitchen Nightmares," where that loud British chef goes around to American restaurants to try to help them out, I'm really afraid of eating in a restaurant back home again.
As my former SS cohost Jennifer commented once, she was at this very upscale Italian ice cream shop in Gangnam and witnessed the woman behind the counter dipping a spoon into the tubs, putting it in her mouth, and then using the moist spoon to swirl over the gash to hide the evidence.
Ugg. Basically you're safe no where.
And then there are the women at Face Shop who use the public tester makeup on their eyes and lips.
But of course Chinese kimchi, American beef, and white ESL teachers who can't account for their weekend and MIGHT have gone to Mexico are the real health dangers to Koreans.
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