"Ham fried rice and kimchi on a 1-year-old's plate?"... Parent outraged after seeing daycare meal

Menu listed smoked duck and white kimchi
Parent fumes: "There was no advance notice"

Controversy has erupted after a parent alleged that a daycare center served a 1-year-old child food that differed from the menu provided in advance. Criticism has intensified, particularly after reports that the meal consisted mainly of high-sodium and processed foods considered unsuitable for a child under 2, including red napa cabbage kimchi, ham fried rice and seasoned seaweed.

A photo of a daycare meal posted by a parent on social media (SNS). Screenshot from Threads.

The menu listed smoked duck and white kimchi... but the meal served was different

Recently, a post by a parent, identified as A, sharing a menu and photos of meals served to her child at daycare appeared on social media. A's child was born in July 2025 and is currently 1 year old.

The menu A shared listed steamed white rice, squid and radish soup, smoked duck stir-fried with chives, braised small anchovies and white kimchi for that day's meal. However, photos of the actual meal, which A received after requesting them from the daycare center, showed fried rice with ham, red kimchi, seasoned seaweed and stir-fried, finely chopped medium-sized anchovies.

A vented her frustration, saying, "At home, I fed my child mostly whole foods like beef and grilled fish, so why on earth are they serving ham fried rice? The smoked duck was replaced with ham. And what's with the seasoned seaweed? I don't understand why they served red kimchi instead of white kimchi."

"Should I move my child to another daycare center?"... Parents' distrust grows

A said her child had been attending the daycare center for about four months. When her child enrolled, the center told her it did not provide Kids Note updates or daily meal photos. However, she said she had entrusted her child to the center because she had heard positive feedback from other parents about its childcare and meals.

But the incident has shattered her trust. A said, "I had planned to put up with it until my child could enroll at another daycare center in March 2027, but now I think I need to seriously consider moving to another place."

Online commenters also voiced strong criticism after reading her account. They criticized the daycare center's lackluster response, saying, "Serving anchovies and red kimchi meant for adults? That meal tray looks almost like an adult's meal"; "If they aren't going to serve what's on the menu, why hand out a menu at all?"; and "If they had to change the menu, they should have notified parents in advance through a notice or some other means."

Daycare meals: food preparation and communication matter

Under the current Child Care Act and its Enforcement Rule, daycare centers must provide young children with balanced, hygienic and safe meals, and are required to prepare and serve food according to menus drawn up by a nutritionist.

In addition, guidelines from the nationwide Children's Foodservice Management Support Centers state that if a menu must be changed for unavoidable reasons, such as food supply issues, the reason for the change should be recorded and parents notified in advance. The guidelines also recommend strictly adjusting the size of ingredients, seasoning and cooking methods to suit infants' ages and developmental stages.

However, the specific circumstances surrounding whether the daycare center changed the original menu without authorization, and whether it subsequently notified parents, have not been confirmed. The photos released also do not provide enough information to determine the food's preparation or how much seasoning was used.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.