Does the "shoot cucumber" you eat have a business license? Reporters visited

Source: Yangcheng Evening News

Since late July, a number of restaurants in Hefei, Chizhou and other places in Anhui Province have been fined 5,000 yuan by the regulatory authorities for selling cold dishes such as cold cucumbers without obtaining cold food business qualifications, which has aroused heated public opinion.

In this regard, Dai Furong, director of the Catering Service Safety Supervision Department of the Hefei Market Supervision Bureau, responded that if the catering service provider needs to have a cold food production and sales license for the production and sale of cold dishes, "many smaller restaurants may not increase the production and sale of cold food in the business project when they first apply for a license." ”

What kind of business qualifications are required for the production and sale of cold vegetables? Have the "cucumber shooters" in Guangzhou obtained relevant business licenses? The Yangcheng Evening News reporter visited this.

Reporter Visits:

3 of the 11 offline companies have not obtained relevant qualifications

2 of the 15 online companies have not obtained relevant qualifications

In this incident, the basis for the fines in Hefei and other places is very clear: it is impossible to sell cucumbers because it has not obtained a food business license for "cold food production and sale" - according to food management laws and regulations, if a catering unit wants to operate cold vegetable products, the business project of the "Food Business License" must have a "cold food production and sale", otherwise it is an over-range operation.

Coincidentally, in 2017, a hot pot restaurant in Huangpu District, Guangzhou, was also confiscated for 139 yuan earned in 21 days for selling cold dishes from "shooting cucumbers", and was also notified of an administrative penalty of 10,000 yuan.

So, have the "cucumber shooters" in Guangzhou obtained relevant business licenses?

At noon on August 2, a reporter from Yangcheng Evening News randomly visited 14 street food shops in Yuexiu, Tianhe and Huangpu, and found that 11 of them sold cold vegetables or cooked food within the scope of business licenses, and only 3 were selling cold dishes but did not obtain cold food business qualifications.

At a noodle restaurant on Mingyue 2nd Road in Yuexiu District, the reporter saw that the business items of the food business license hanging on the wall only included "hot food production and sale", but the menu had cold dishes such as "cold cucumber", "sugar mixed tomatoes" and "cold mix beef" for sale.

In a northwest restaurant located in the right south street of the temple in Yuexiu District, the reporter found that in the case that the food business qualification only includes "hot food production and sale", the restaurant still has cold dishes such as "celery mixed with peanuts" and "mixed cucumbers" for sale.

It is worth noting that on the large menu at the entrance of the restaurant, most of the cold dishes sold at the counter are not listed, and the waiter's explanation for this is that "the menu is too small to write, and you can see it by scanning the code to order." After the reporter entered the store to scan the code, he found that the store had a total of 13 cold dishes such as "cold mixed pig ear silk" and "mixed cucumber".

From a noodle restaurant located on Chebei Road in Tianhe District, the reporter noticed that the menu had cold dishes such as "refreshing autumn ear", "wakame" and "spicy melon strips" for sale, but its food business license did not indicate the words "cold food production and sale", but "bulk food sales (including refrigerated frozen food, excluding bulk cooked food, excluding bulk wine)" and so on.

In addition to the offline visit, the reporter also searched for the takeaway platform with the keyword of "shooting cucumbers" and entered the page of the merchant that sold the cold dish to inquire about the business items in its food business license.

The reporter's rough statistics found that starting from Tangxia Village in Tianhe District, most of the restaurants selling cucumbers and other cold dishes in the surrounding area are mainly engaged in barbecue, crayfish, etc. Among the 15 stores, 13 food business licenses are marked with the words "cold food production and sale (only raw food melons, fruits and vegetables, pickles)" or "cold food production and sale (excluding roasted cooked meat)", and only 2 business projects do not indicate the production and sale of cold food or only label "production and sale of Chinese fast food".

Public opinion differentiation:

Some people support applause, some people feel a little "wronged"

On social media platforms, "Can you still click on cucumbers in the next restaurant" was read by 120 million, and related topics once rushed to the hot search. Some netizens applauded that food safety is no small matter, and the fine is justified. Some netizens are puzzled, a cucumber is fined five thousand, is it too heavy?

"I'd rather be strict than let down a little vigilance." Netizen @ Umabu believes that cold food and cold mixed vegetables have not been heated and sterilized, which is originally a big risk, "If the kitchen environment is not good, the unfortunate thing is that you and I are consumers, so pay attention to a little, there is no mistake." Netizens @jerrycn also said that "this time the administrative supervision department of the station". He believes that shooting cucumbers belongs to cold dishes, and cold dishes must have the corresponding cold food license, which is common sense. In order to apply for a cold food permit, it is necessary to set up a special cold vegetable room in accordance with the requirements of the administrative supervision department to prevent the bacteria caused by cold dishes from exceeding the standard and unhygienic.

But there are also some netizens who feel that the small shop is very "wronged", 50 yuan to shoot cucumbers was fined 5,000 yuan, the price is a bit large.

Netizen @ kanwa daddy believes that if the penalty is 5,000 yuan, it may be that the small shop will be in vain for two or three months, "Originally these small restaurants under the epidemic situation were very difficult to operate, and it is estimated that they can survive until now they owe a lot of debts, at this time, they began to strictly investigate these small restaurants, are not they forcing these people to die?" ”

"This is an administrative penalty that is debatable." Netizen @ Mengjinan believes that administrative punishment is not only legal, but also needs to meet the principle of rationality and proportionality, "the catering industry has been affected by the epidemic, a considerable number of employees are struggling to support, the fine of 5,000 is not heavy, everyone has a number in mind." ”

Meng Qingen, a lawyer at Beijing Zhongwen (Shanghai) Law Firm, said that some food business operators do not know that the production and sale of cold food also need to apply for a food business license, and the competent authorities punish the illegal acts of relevant entities, "just to popularize the law to other illegal business entities, so that they can take the initiative to rectify their own business behavior." ”

Standards disputes:

Need a 5 square meter separate compartment to sell cucumbers?

Non also.

So, is it difficult for small restaurants to increase the business project of cold food? According to media reports, the relevant regulatory authorities in Hefei said in response to the requirements of cold food permits that no less than 5 square meters of independent space is required, with disinfection facilities for secondary dressing, air disinfection equipment and independent air conditioning.

However, this response did not calm public opinion, but provoked a higher voice. Many netizens believe that although food safety is recognized as strictly managed, if this acceptance standard is followed, the threshold of "independent space of not less than 5 square meters" has deterred many small restaurants.

Do small restaurants in Guangdong also need 5 square meters of separate compartments to sell cucumbers? The reporter consulted the "Guangdong Provincial Market Supervision and Administration Bureau on the Implementation Rules of the Food Business License (Trial)" and found that the relevant regulatory departments in Guangdong Province require that "the production of cold food and raw food should be set up separately", but there is no specific requirement for the area of the special room.

The "Fourth Type Food Business License On-site Verification Form" for small restaurants issued by the Guangdong Provincial Market Supervision and Administration Bureau puts forward three standards for the verification of the special room: First, there is no clear ditch in the special room, and the floor drain is covered with water. The food delivery window is open and closed, and the other windows are closed. The wall skirt of the special room is laid to the top. The private room door closes automatically. Second, the special room is equipped with independent air-conditioning facilities, special refrigeration facilities and air disinfection facilities suitable for the area of the special room. Third, there are facilities for handwashing, disinfection and changing at the entrance of the special room.

The reporter also found that for the requirements for the independent space of cold food, the State Administration for Market Supervision and Administration had relevant guidelines in its answer to the public message in June 2021.

In response to a question from netizen @Mr. Wang that "food business license has been obtained, but there is no cold food production and sale in the business scope", the Law Enforcement Inspection Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation said that according to the relevant provisions of the "Food Safety Operation Code for Catering Services", "the following processing and production can be carried out in the special room or in the special operation area: a) meal preparation, b) processing and production of freshly squeezed fruit and vegetable juice, fruit and vegetable platters, etc., c) only processing and production of plant-based cold food (excluding non-fermented soy products); Prepackaged food is provided after simple processing such as unpacking, plate, seasoning, etc.; Condiments for consumers to consume directly. ”

The response clearly states that from a safety perspective, only the processing of plant-based cold food does not require a special room, and can be carried out in a clean and dedicated operating area.