Major hygiene and food safety shortcomings found by NATCP in three shopping centres in Budapest

The National Authority for Trade and Consumer Protection (NATCP) has launched a targeted food safety inspection carried out in three shopping centres in the capital - the Árkád Budapest, Westend City Center and Pólus Center. During the operation 12 catering units in total were inspected by the authority, during which serious hygiene and food safety problems were found.

Shopping centre food courts typically have several types of catering units - fast food, buffets, other food service providers - operate in close proximity to each other. These units often share common back-up facilities, such as changing rooms, staff toilets, service corridors, as well as waste management and pest control which are usually provided by the shopping centre operator.

During the inspections, inspectors found damaged floor, wall and ceiling coverings in several units, making it difficult to keep surfaces clean and facilitating the colonisation of pests. During the inspections, it was also found that poorly maintained ventilation systems had reduced extraction efficiency due to greasy deposits and backflow.

The NATCP found shortcomings in the separate storage of raw materials and ready meals and noted that in several sites there was inadequate separation of work processes at different hygiene levels. The increased stock resulting from home deliveries, combined with limited storage capacity, also posed a food safety risk.

In the food courtyard of the Pólus Center, the authority found particularly worrying conditions, where, in the absence of a central dishwasher, the washing of trays was carried out in the kitchen or vegetable preparation rooms, which raised serious hygiene concerns.

In several catering establishments, the so-called HACCP, or food safety management systems, were based on generic, template documentation that did not meet the requirements for the relevant kitchen processes. In many cases, workers had not received adequate food hygiene training and in several units they were unable to produce valid health certificates.

Of the foodstuffs inspected, 14 lots were found to be past their sell-by date, 16 lots were past their use-by date, 21 lots were unlabelled and untraceable, and 1 lot had been handled with incorrect freezing technology, which led to their immediate withdrawal from the market.

The serious food hygiene and safety shortcomings found led to the opening of procedures against all 12 catering establishments inspected.

Dr. Lilla Német-Weingartner, President of the NATCP, stressed that "food safety is not only a legal obligation, but also a shared responsibility to protect the health of consumers. The Authority is committed to providing a safe environment for Hungarian families and a transparent and enforceable regulatory framework for businesses."

NATCP will continue to pay special attention to food safety inspections in catering establishments, with a particular focus on the hygiene conditions in high-traffic, public-use areas.