CHANGWON — The Gyeongsangnam-do Office of Education is conducting three weeks of joint hygiene inspections at 353 sites, including school and kindergarten cafeterias and food ingredient suppliers, to prevent foodborne illness as the new term begins.
The office said the inspections run through the 11th of this month, carried out by a joint team that includes the provincial government, district education offices, cities and counties, the Busan Regional Office of the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety, and consumer food hygiene monitors. The timing is intended to remove foodborne illness risks across the entire meal process — storage, cooking and serving — as school meals resume in full after the vacation.
The targets are 245 institutional cafeterias at schools and kindergartens and 108 food ingredient suppliers, for a total of 353 sites.
At cafeterias, inspectors check the hygiene and cleanliness of kitchens, the personal hygiene of cooking staff, compliance with expiration dates and storage standards for ingredients, adherence to hygiene rules during cooking and serving, and the management of retained food samples. For suppliers, the inspections focus on whether ingredients are handled hygienically, on storage conditions and on whether delivery vehicles maintain proper temperatures.
The office is also stepping up training and outreach alongside the on-site inspections. It is advising cafeterias to maintain required internal cooking temperatures and to finish serving within two hours of cooking, while intensively promoting preventive rules to be followed on site, such as handwashing and proper handling of eggs.
"With meals resuming at the start of the term, hygiene and safety management become even more important," said Moon Jung-sook, head of the education welfare division. "We hope schools and food ingredient suppliers thoroughly observe rules on the personal hygiene of cooking staff, ingredient storage, and cooking and serving, so that students can eat with peace of mind."
