A delivery driver in Ningxia reported the restaurant right after picking up the order!

On March 30, a reporter learned from the Wuzhong Municipal Administration for Market Regulation that a delivery rider in Yongxin County, during a meal pickup at a certain fried rice restaurant, recently found food safety hazards in the restaurant’s back kitchen, and promptly filed a complaint via the 12315 hotline. The Yongxin County Administration for Market Regulation responded rapidly, investigated and handled the business in accordance with the law, and worked with the food delivery platform to take a service suspension measure, forming a “regulation + platform” dual-constraint mechanism.

At the time of the incident, the delivery rider went to the fried rice restaurant involved in the complaint to pick up an order and found that the back kitchen was not clean, with some miscellaneous items as well, posing an obvious food safety risk. The rider immediately called the 12315 hotline to complete the complaint.

After receiving the complaint tip, the Yongxin County Market Regulation Bureau immediately initiated a rapid review and verification mechanism, dispatching law enforcement officers to the scene for inspection.

Upon investigation, it was found that the restaurant’s “three prevention” facilities were not properly implemented. Food raw materials and processed foods were not stored separately; raw and cooked ingredients were mixed together, creating cross-contamination risks. Expired food ingredients were also stored inside the operation area, which did not meet food safety standards.

In response to the issues identified during the inspection, the law enforcement officers, on the spot, issued the business an order to make rectifications and required it to complete the corrections within a prescribed time limit, and also issued an “administrative penalty decision” with a warning in accordance with the law. At the same time, relying on an online-and-offline integrated joint handling mechanism, relevant information was notified to the food delivery platform, and a service suspension measure was taken to force the business to implement its main responsibility for food safety and to standardize business operations.

“Delivery riders travel through every street and alley every day and frequently enter and exit all kinds of catering establishments. They are the most likely to spot back-kitchen problems, serving as a ‘mobile food safety supervisor,’ and also a guardian of the safety of the public’s tongues.” A relevant person in charge of the Wuzhong Municipal Administration for Market Regulation said that this time the delivery rider’s proactive reporting of food safety hazards is a vivid demonstration of how this group can play a role in grassroots governance. The bureau will fully leverage the advantages of delivery riders, guide and encourage more delivery riders to join the food-safety supervision team, and innovate by building a “rider + regulator + platform” linked reporting mechanism. Through Wuzhong’s “Digital Food Safety” mini program, it will upload, in real time, problem leads such as poor back-kitchen hygiene and “ghost deliveries,” so that illegal and noncompliant food safety practices have no place to hide, helping to foster a food safety co-governance pattern in which the whole public participates and coverage extends across all areas of the catering sector.

Source: Ningxia Daily client app

Review: Ma Lingyan Shi Yonglei