Brazilian health
officials have raided hotels that will host visiting World Cup teams,
including England and Italy, and confiscated expired food such as shrimp
and salmon from their kitchens.
"The checks were
carried out as part of our drive to see food safety codes enforced as
part of a round of inspections being undertaken given the close
proximity of the World Cup," Fabio Domingos, head of inspections at Rio
de Janeiro state consumer protection agency Procon, told AFP Tuesday.
Teams
are due to begin arriving next week for the World Cup, which kicks off
on June 12. About 600,000 foreign fans and 3.1 million Brazilians are
also expected to descend on the 12 host cities.
Procon
said its inspectors had found 25 kilograms (55 pounds) of expired
shrimp, salmon, margarine and pasta at the Hotel Portobello, which will
house the Italian delegation in Mangaratiba just west of Rio.
Domingos said the shrimp had expired in early April.
The inspectors also removed another 24 kilos of food that had no date labeling.
An
inspection at the Royal Tulip Hotel in Rio, where England will stay,
uncovered some two kilos of out-of-date salmon, butter and ham.
A further inspection saw 20 kilos of food junked at Rio's Sheraton Hotel.
Among
items dumped at the swanky establishment which will host four World Cup
teams -- reigning champions Spain, Belgium, Argentina and Ecuador --
were 1.4 kilos of foie gras.
Domingos said care was taken to ensure the food thrown away was disposed of properly.
"The products found are immediately doused in detergent and other chemical products so they cannot be re-utilized," he told AFP.
Procon said other hotels would be checked as "teams and fans are all consumers, and we are acting for their benefit."
It said hotels must tell government officials why they have out of date food on the premises within 15 days or face a fine.
Inspectors also checked Rio's Hotel Caesar Park, where Holland's squad will be based, but found nothing amiss in its kitchen.
Procon
also visited restaurants, bakeries and shops as part of its crackdown
and has cited eight establishments so far for irregularities which saw
218 kilos of food thrown away.
Many of the 32 teams competing at the World Cup will bring their own food, and some will even have their own chefs.
Procon said customs at airports would monitor what food was imported as well as its quality.
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