Growing online platform connecting local cooks directly to consumers draws attention of re...

Описание: One of the notable additions to Taiwan’s growing “sharing economy” is a three-year-old online platform that lets users contact local cooks to order traditional homecooked meals. But the website’s potential for consumer disputes over food poisoning has drawn in the Taipei Department of Health, which is helping to encourage cooks and consumers to pay more attention to food safety. The cook frying up these onions with pork is one of many on a new website which lets users share their homemade dishes with strangers. The domestically developed online platform has taken off thanks to a growing number of people who don’t have the time to cook but still want to enjoy a homecooked meal. Cooks from across Taiwan post pictures of their dishes on the website together with the locations they can deliver to. To enjoy the dishes, all you need to do is register an account and contact a cook to help cover the cost of the ingredients. Tseng Ta-jenDahuo Website FounderIn the beginning the concept was meant for my own kids. I didn’t want them eating out or losing the time to have dinner at home. Right now I have no plans to make a profit off of it, but maybe I’ll change my mind later.Tseng Ta-jen, the founder of the website, is himself one of the cooks listed on the website. He said that though the site is basically a non-profit enterprise, the growing number of registered users has led to consumer disputes.Wang Ming-liTaipei Health Dept. Food and Drug DivisionThe food ordered by the website’s users might turn bad without them knowing why, and they might think it’s an issue with the cooks themselves. But our investigation might reveal that the consumers didn’t store the food properly. So in these disputes we will basically intervene on behalf of a certain party by issuing guidance.Taipei’s Department of Health performed a short play encouraging cooks on the website to ensure they store ingredients properly and pay attention to hygiene when making their shared meals.