Video: stomach-churning conditions in a Balaton restaurant

The National Food Chain Safety Office (NÉBIH) shared a video of stomach-churning conditions at Lake Balaton.

Alarming hygiene conditions in a restaurant

During an inspection of a catering unit in Siófok, the inspectors of NÉBIH found hygiene conditions posing a serious food safety risk. The errors and deficiencies found by the experts, in particular the general lack of cleanliness, justified the immediate suspension of the restaurant’s activities and the withdrawal of 790 kilograms of food from circulation, Index reports.

Serious hygiene shortcomings were found during an on-site inspection of the restaurant. When examining the place, the inspectors found a general lack of cleanliness and a high level of contamination in practically all of its premises. The restaurant has since corrected the deficiencies and was allowed to continue its activities, the authority said on Thursday. The fine is currently being assessed.

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Greasy, dusty, dirty, unclean

As an example of the contamination, the floors of the cooking kitchen, the vegetable preparation room, the storage room, the supply room and the gyros preparation room were greasy, uncleaned and the side walls were dirty. Several places were used to store items and equipment not related to the technology.

In the black sink room, the plaster was peeling from the ceiling above the sink, the top of the refrigerator was dusty, and the sides of the room were dirty. A separate problem was that the refrigerated areas contained foodstuffs of different hygiene standards, such as fruit and vegetables, ready meals and dairy products, which were stored together, exposing them to the risk of contamination.

In addition, inspectors found almost 500 kilograms of unmarked, untraceable frozen gyros meat and more than 120 kilograms of unmarked, untraceable frozen mutton in the unit.

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Suspended activities

Due to the above circumstances, which pose a serious risk to food safety, NÉBIH has suspended the unit’s activities with immediate effect, their website writes. The authority also withdrew 28 batches, totalling 790.49 kg of untraceable foodstuffs with expired shelf-life/expiry date, and prohibited their use and placing on the market.

The restaurant was allowed to resume its activities after the food hygiene and food safety deficiencies were corrected, following a positive on-site inspection by the authority. The setting of the fine is ongoing.