Food seizures at World Cup hotels

England and Italy’s accommodation have out-of-date food confiscated from by Brazilian health and safety officials.

England's Royal Tulip Hotel had two kg of butter, Parma ham and salmon all past expiry [Getty Images]

A Brazilian consumer defence agency said it’s found past-expiration food in the hotels where national soccer teams from Italy and England will stay during the World Cup.

The Rio de Janeiro state agency said on its website late Monday that the inspections were part of an effort to enforce food safety codes ahead of next month’s tournament.

At the Hotel Portobello where Italy will stay, inspectors discovered 25 kg of pasta, shrimp, salmon and margarine kept past its expiration date.

Inspectors there tossed another 24kg of food because there was no visible safe date on its label.

Hotels under-equipped

England will stay at the Royal Tulip Hotel, where a search revealed 2 kg of butter, Parma ham and salmon too old for consumption.

The agency also said both hotels didn’t provide condoms for sale at cost, nor information about sexually transmitted diseases, as required by law.

Both hotels have 15 days to make official explanations to the government agency. Only then would any fines be levied.

There was some good news for soccer teams in the raids. The agency said that inspectors found no problems at the Hotel Caesar Park, where Holland’s squad will be based.

Source: Reuters