21 August 2018; reports of a building in the city centre that churns out 10,000 meals a day has caused many to question the safety and quality of food delivery in Nanjing.
The second and third floors of the building on Zhongshan Dong Lu in Xinjiekou house 21 takeaway kitchens that have been investigated by reporters for the Modern Express.
Think sweatshops, but for food, that produce in excess of 70,000 meals for city dwellers every week. A typical kitchen occupies approximately ten square metres, where cooks splatter oil all over windowless walls day in, day out.
Takeaway containers are stacked high, while food delivery men are seen dashing up and down stairwells, keen to deliver meals fast. Sweating profusely in the summer heat, men cook with their tops off as they trudge sloppy floors, firing three woks at a time.
Cockroaches were spotted everywhere in the filth, but that does not seem to phase the people who work there, who claim they can make anything between ￥70,000 to ￥20 million annually.
Those numbers are staggering indeed and it is what most aspire to, but starting out is no easy feat. “According to a boss, surnamed Wang, average net income for a food delivery outlet in its two opening months is about ¥6,000. The average annual income for sellers is estimated to be ¥200,000”, the article exposed.
So what are the food delivery health concerns?
Reporters for Modern Express were shown business licenses from the 21 kitchens and while all online documentation required by the food delivery APPs had been completed, they found that which they witnessed in person to be of great concern.
Leftovers stuck to woks and oil splatter on the walls was deemed “serious” by the reporters. Vegetables were seen being handled without gloves, while merchants dumped plastic baskets of vegetables on top of uncooked chicken nuggets. Most unbearable of all, reporters say, was the lobster kitchen at the end of the third walkway, where bowls of lobsters sat beside by side toilet doors.
The takeaway building in Xinjiekou is not alone, as more and more eateries are seen around the city giving up space for diners in order to renovate their businesses into delivery-only kitchens. The Nanjinger spoke to residents living in a community that backs five such businesses “No, these places aren’t for eating in, they’re all for delivery”, one Hankou Lu resident told us.
Included in the media report was information provided by the Nanjing Food and drug Administration office that reveals the city currently has more than 20,000 food and beverage outlets on the delivery platforms. Major APPs such as “Ele Me” (Hungry?) have stated they are consistent in keeping up strict safety standards.
The Nanjing Food and Drug Administration admits that when they are starting out, delivery kitchens provide clean spaces for inspection, but often fail to keep up with hygiene and safety standards, becoming dirty in the longer run.
The department says it pulls roughly 20 businesses offline each month that do not match standards. However, the report stated, “The take-away business has a wide range of places, while the relevant departments have limited resources and it is difficult to cover them all”.
Consumers are advised to call 12331 if they suspect a food delivery outlet of cooking in an unhygienic manner. The relevant authorities will then follow up with the kitchen concerned.
