The Department of Food technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) and Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) conducted a joint survey of the hotels, restaurants and bakery shops in 6 bustling areas of the capital.[break]
New Bus Park, Old Bus Park, Kalimati, Bypass, Chabahil and Boudha areas were covered in the survey. The KMC said that the survey was conducted at around 400 hotels, restaurants, bakery cafés, and momo shops.
“In most cases the kitchens were found to be dirty with rubbish lying everywhere in the kitchen. The unhygienic condition of kitchens of those restaurants poses threat to the health of the consumers," reads the report.
“The cooks and kitchen staffs at the hotels, restaurants and shops surveyed did not seem to be conscious about hygiene and cleanliness,” chief of the Public Health Department of KMC, Narendra Bajracharya said.
Doctors say unhygienic foods are the main cause of diarrheal disease. The unhygienic foods also cause gastrointestinal problems, stomach ache and indigestion.
“Most of the restaurants and hotels serve tap water collected in a grimy drums to the costumers,” the report mentions. Even the vegetables and oil used for cooking were not found to be good.
While the dustbins were left uncovered at many of the places, the inspectors said, the foods at roadside restaurants were unfit for consumption because of the dust and other particles they accumulate.
“Eating out at restaurants has become a way of living in urban areas,” Director General of DFTQC, Jeevan Prabha Lama said, adding, “But consuming food at eateries without knowing the condition of the kitchen may be cost dear health-wise.”
The DFTQC said that the inspectors have instructed the restaurants and hotels to improve cleanness. “The current act does not allow us to take punitive actions, so we only cautioned them to improve the cleanliness,” Lama said. She said the DFTQC is working to formulate effective laws to hold the restaurant entrepreneurs accountable.
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