"Even Baby Food Counts as Outside Food": Restaurant Makes Family with 15-Month-Old Child Stop Their Meal [What Do You Think?]

[Financial News]  A family that tried to feed their 15-month-old baby solid food reportedly stopped eating and left a restaurant because of its ban on outside food.
On the 18th, JTBC's "Sageonbanjang" reported the story of Ms. A, a woman in her 30s raising a 15-month-old child.
Ms. A visited a dak-galbi restaurant with her husband and their 15-month-old child. After paying for the meal in advance, she tried to feed the hungry child baby food that she had brought in an insulated container. The restaurant owner then approached her.

The owner said to Ms. A as she took out the baby food, "Can't you see the sign at the entrance saying that outside food is prohibited? You can't feed that here."
Ms. A explained that it was only baby food for the child. She said, "It's just baby food. The baby gets fussy when hungry, so I only brought it along in advance."
The owner nevertheless applied the rule without exception. He said, "Even if it's baby food, it's still outside food, isn't it? We don't allow any outside food, period."
In the end, Ms. A's family could not properly eat the dak-galbi they had ordered and left the restaurant.
Ms. A said she agreed with the ban on outside food itself but had not expected it to apply even to baby food. She lamented, "I completely understand the ban on outside food. But this wasn't adult food; it was baby food, and I brought it because I was worried the baby might fuss from hunger and disturb the restaurant. I never expected to be chastised like this."
Attorney Son Su-ho said that although a restaurant's operating policy should be respected, this case seemed excessive. He said, "I generally believe we should respect a restaurant owner's operating policy, but this seems a bit too much. Feeding a baby doesn't reduce sales, nor does it create an odor that would bother other customers. I can't see any reason to prohibit it at all."
Sanghee Park, a psychology professor, also said baby food should be viewed differently from ordinary outside food. She said, "You could classify baby food as outside food, but a baby has no other option, does it? How can a baby who eats baby food eat dak-galbi? This is overly rigid."
Attorney Jihoon Park also questioned the restaurant's blanket application of the rule. He said, "Not everything is prohibited just because it is outside food. Aren't they simply being bound by that one line?"


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