Even four-star hotel kitchen found unhygienic

Kwality Food Cafe sealed



KATHMANDU, June 19: Contrary to public expectations of higher standards of service at more expensive establishments, a monitoring team of the Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) on Monday found the kitchen at Hotel Himalaya to be unhygienic and using deteriorated tomatoes, with the storage of meat also very unhygienic.



The team has suggested to the hotel proprietor to correct the lapses and present himself at the department within three days to furnish clarifications.[break]



“It´s very awful to find that the kitchens of most of the well-known hotels in Nepal are not observing good hygienic practices, and using date-expired and unlabelled products. As this is the first time we have inspected the hotels we have just specified a time for making corrections and asked for clarifications. But if they repeat the same lapses we will take strict action,” said Jeevan Prabha Lama, director general of DFTQC.



Meanwhile, DFTQC has sealed Kwality Food Café at Bagdole as it did not follow good hygienic practices either. DFTQC has given the resturant three days for furnishing clarifications and making improvements.



Earlier, on June 8 also, DFTQC had found the same laspes at the restaurant and given it three days time to come to the department with clarifications.



"As the owner of the restaurant did not present himself at the department and the kitchen was still found to be unhygienic on Monday, the team has sealed the restaurant," said Lama.



Dinesh Tuladhar, managing director of Hotel Himalaya, said as there were no specific guidelines regarding standards for kitchens and food served at hotels it was very difficult to maintain standards. He added that if the government issuef specific guidelines it would be easier for all hoteliers to maintain standards.



“We will rectify the mistakes and provide clarifications to the department within the allocated time,” said Tuladhar.



Earlier, Everest Hotel, Malla Hotel, Dwarika´s, Hotel de l´Annapurna and Yak and Yeti were inspected by the department and various shortcomings found, such as not having good hygienic practices, failure to use proper uniforms, and use of date-expired and unlabelled products, among other things.

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