Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Real Reality]

http://times.hankooki.com/lpage/200407/kt2004070215184410220.htm

[lush72]

Had food poisoning 3 times here and had dysentery (sp?) so bad I needed 2 IV's (1 in each arm). Korean resteraurants range from top of the line to just bloody terrible - most are in the middle to low middle. I will never forget going to the kimbap place and watching the woman scratch some itch on her bare foot, then massage her foot, then roll up another kimpap roll!

[Juggertha]

I tried to explain to a number of friends/coworkers/students/locals about cross-contamination here and it often doesnt register with them. I explain how you should't use the same utensils when cutting differetn types of food (as in don't use the scissors you just cut the kalbi with to cut my Gimchi) and not to mix cooked and un-cooked food. I can't tell how many times i've got some good, thuroughly cooked meat on the grill, ready to be chowed down on and then the Adjumma comes and slopps on the raw stuff....ALL OVER THE COOKED! Needless to say I wave to let it "cook" again. grrrrrrrr

[discostar23]

i think a lot of the food poisoning has to do with the way things are keep the food when it isn't cooked. It seems they don't really refrigerate things especially on those fried food carts. I worked in a restaurant for six years and know the ins and outs of bad food handling.

i wonder if the reported food poisoning cases had anything to do with the mando scandel??

[skinhead]

Food poisoning? Look on the bright side: "Good for health" and a great way to lose weight.

[phaedrus]

Yeah. "It's good for man's shtameena."

[Butterfly]

[the eye]

stay away from raw seafood in the summer time.
street food, especially the sauces that have een sitting in the humid air, being double dipped my slobbering drunks.....deadly!

[just because]

I've had it once since I've been here. painful!!

I also agree about seafood, I wouldn't normally eat it here except if i can see the boats bringing it in.

Street stalls are like russian roulette. I play the game as i love the food but one day I'll get a bullet in the stomach

[Adam2446]

Lets face it in Korea most of the cheaper eating establishments follow no health code at all and if they existed in a western country the health inspector would shut the places down after stepping through the front door of the "restaurant." That said I eat out a lot at the cheap places, although in the summer time I am extra careful here in Korea.

[trevorcollins]

That being said, by comparison with the rest of Asia the food preparation standards are amazingly high. I lived in the Philippines for 5 years and the things I saw and ate there would make the hairs fall out of your head.
I think also Western countries are becoming TOO hygeinic if you can believe that one and people are not developing the natural resistance to milder levels of bacteria.