On August 1st, a joint inter-agency inspection team from Nghe An province, led by the Deputy Director of the Department of Health, conducted a surprise inspection at a hotel on Binh Minh Street in Cua Lo town. This is one of the newer and larger hotels in the coastal town; it has not yet been ranked according to national standards for tourist accommodation establishments.
Prior to the inspection by the inter-agency food safety inspection team, this hotel had been fined nearly 40 million VND by authorities for arbitrarily displaying "stars" without official recognition from the competent authority. At the time of the inspection, the hotel was still using the image of three stars to advertise its tourist accommodation category; it only removed them when the team insisted.
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| Checking the hotel's freezer. Photo: Thanh Chung |
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| Food was not stored hygienically. Photo: Thanh Chung |
During the inspection, the inter-agency inspection team conducted a physical inspection and discovered that the hotel had committed the following administrative violations: The records of the three-step food inspection process as guided by the Ministry of Health were not fully documented as required. The food storage area did not meet hygiene and safety standards.
The inspection team issued an administrative violation report, with a planned fine of 16 million VND for the hotel; they also requested the hotel to rectify the violations and strictly comply with food safety regulations.
Here are some images showing the hotel's food storage area, which did not meet hygiene and safety standards:
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| The food storage cabinets are very unhygienic. Photo: Thanh Chung |
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| Checking the cooking oil can in the kitchen. Photo: Thanh Chung |
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| There were dead flies in the cooking oil. Photo: Thanh Chung |
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| Inspecting the pickle bin. Photo: Thanh Chung |
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| The pickle container was teeming with maggots. Photo: Thanh Chung |
