On July 18th， media reports revealed that journalists investigating several catering establishments discovered that many restaurants are employing a dual-standard approach for dine-in and takeaway services.
For instance， while dine-in customers might be served meals prepared with fresh cooking oil and freshly sourced meat， takeaway orders are sometimes made with bulk-packaged blended oils and pre-prepared frozen meats. Similarly， fresh rice is used for dine-in， while older stock may be used for takeaway. This disparity in ingredient quality and preparation methods is a growing concern.
Given that the time and place of consumption are separated for takeaway orders， consumers find it difficult to directly compare the differences between their meal specifications and those for dine-in. This makes evidence gathering challenging， hindering effective consumer rights protection.
Industry insiders suggest that some businesses， believing consumers have limited oversight， are deliberately cutting costs and lowering standards. Furthermore， under the pressure of platform commissions and delivery fees， merchants resort to compromising food quality to maintain profitability. A deeper-seated issue lies in the industry’s lack of unified regulations and oversight. In the burgeoning sector of online food delivery， there are existing loopholes in the supervision of ingredient sourcing， preparation processes， and packaging standards， which unfortunately provide opportunities for unscrupulous businesses.
For long-term development， catering businesses must uphold integrity as their operating principle. By implementing standardized procedures， they can ensure that dine-in and takeaway services offer comparable quality and pricing. Moreover， takeaway platforms should also assume responsibility by improving their review mechanisms and promoting transparent operations among merchants. For example， enabling merchants to offer “back kitchen live streaming” could allow customers to view the restaurant’s kitchen operations directly on the ordering platform before placing an order. Such transparency in culinary processes provides consumers with a clearer understanding of how their food is prepared.
Through the application of network technology， the aim is to guide catering service providers in achieving “transparent kitchens” on online ordering platforms， thereby fully safeguarding consumers’ rights to information and supervision.
