Daycare serves ham fried rice and red kimchi to child under 2; parent outraged

[Financial News] Controversy has erupted after it emerged that a daycare center served a one-year-old child food completely different from the posted menu.
A parent identified as A posted photos of their one-year-old child’s daycare meals and menu on social media on the 21st. The child was born in July 2025 and had just turned 15 months old, according to reports.

The menu listed white rice, squid and radish soup, stir-fried smoked duck with garlic chives, braised small anchovies, and white kimchi. But photos of the actual meal showed fried rice with ham, seasoned kimchi, seasoned seaweed, and stir-fried medium-sized anchovies cut into small pieces. The food served differed from the menu.
“At home, I mostly fed my child whole foods like beef and grilled fish, so what is this ham fried rice?” A said, voicing their frustration. “The smoked duck has been replaced with ham, and what’s with the seasoned seaweed? I don’t understand why it’s red kimchi instead of white kimchi.”
A, who said it had been about four months since they enrolled their child at the daycare, had been told at registration that it did not provide access to Kids Note or photos of the menu. However, after hearing from other parents that the teachers cared for the children and the meals were good, A decided to wait and see. But after discovering that the posted menu differed from the meals actually served, A began considering moving the child to another daycare.
People online who saw the story commented, “Isn’t that basically adult food?” They said it was inappropriate to serve red kimchi, stir-fried anchovies, and similar foods to a child who had not yet turned two.
According to meal management guidelines from the Children's Foodservice Management Support Center, if a menu must be changed for unavoidable reasons, the reason should be recorded and parents notified. The guidelines also recommend adjusting food size and cooking methods to suit infants’ ages and developmental stages.
However, it has not been established why the daycare changed the menu or whether it notified the parents beforehand.

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