South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety will conduct hygiene inspections of about 3,600 dessert and ice cream outlets from Feb 2–6 across 17 local governments, focusing on wildly popular items like the 'Dubai jjondeuk cookie' (a chewy cookie using kadaif and pistachio spread wrapped in marshmallow) and chocolate cakes. Inspectors will target delivery-focused kitchens and unmanned ice cream vending shops, checking sanitary handling, facility standards (e.g., insect screens, waste covers), employee health checks, and whether imported ingredients are properly declared or expired. About 100 samples of prepared desserts will be randomly collected and tested for foodborne bacteria including E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Clostridium perfringens, Bacillus cereus, Listeria monocytogenes, and Salmonella. The agency said it will prioritize businesses with prior violations or no recent inspections and will take strict administrative actions if problems are found, continuing its targeted checks on high-demand delivery foods since 2021.
