FDA says it fined six five-star hotels

Six five-star hotels have been fined a total of NT$466,000 for food safety and hygiene contraventions, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said yesterday.

The fines followed FDA inspections of restaurants at 48 five-star and international tourist hotels to check compliance with food safety regulations related to personnel training, food item storage and hygienic principles, the agency said in a statement.

Of the six hotels fined, one failed to make improvements by a deadline after being cited for contravening good hygienic practices, breaching two food labeling rules and storing three expired food products, the FDA said.

Health officials conduct an inspection at a hotel in Tainan in an undated photograph.

Photo courtesy of the Food and Drug Administration

The inspections also found contraventions involving the qualifications and training of food safety personnel, with three hotels fined for failing to employ qualified professionals, it said.

One hotel failed to ensure that technicians completed required food sanitation and safety training, while another failed to check that professional staff completed Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point training, the FDA said.

The Evergreen Plaza Hotel in Tainan received the largest fine at NT$220,000, for five contraventions covering all of the above categories except for the failure to complete the Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point training, the agency said.

The Emperor Hotel in Taipei and Janfushan Resort Hotel in Yunlin County were fined for storing expired food, while the Miramar Garden Taipei and Nice Prince Hotel in Chiayi City were fined for failing to employ qualified professionals, it said.

Hotel Cham Cham Tainan was fined for food labeling contraventions and failing to ensure that professional staff completed Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point training, the FDA said.

International hotels and five-star hotels are required to have at least one restaurant that implements Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point principles, FDA Northern Taiwan Management Center director Liu Fang-ming (劉芳銘) said.

The inspections covered food business registration, compliance with good hygienic practices, Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point principles, food labeling, product liability insurance, expired food products, and the qualifications and training of food safety personnel, Liu said.