The Department of Food Technology and Quality Control (DFTQC) has issued a directive making it mandatory for hotels and restaurants to maintain food quality standards, food safety measures and hygiene. 

Eateries will be classified into four types — very good, good, medium and average — based on the quality of food, service and infrastructure. The directive went into force after being endorsed by the Ministry of Agriculture Development. 

According to the department, hotels and restaurants are required to follow Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP), Good Hygiene Practice (GHP) and Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) principles to protect consumers’ health. 

GMP is about operational conditions and procedures involved in the food business. It lays down standards for the construction of the outlet, the external environment and storage of waste, among others. 

GHP requires eateries to comply with the Codex principle that includes protecting food from contamination and preventing growth or survival of pathogens in food items.

Likewise, HACCP is a management system in which food safety is addressed through analysis and control of biological, chemical and physical hazards from raw material production, procurement and handling to manufacturing, distribution and consumption of the finished product.

DFTQC Spokesperson Purna Chandra Wasti said the department had issued the new regulation to ensure the safety of consumers amid the rapid proliferation of restaurants. 

According to him, hotels and restaurants will be awarded four types of stickers depending on how well they fulfil the standards prescribed by GMP, GHP and HACCP.

As per the DFTQC, restaurants classified as ‘very good’ will receive a green sticker with three stars, and restaurants ranked as ‘good’ will get a green sticker with two stars. Likewise, a green sticker with one star means ‘medium’, and an eatery with a yellow sticker means it is in need of improvement. 

Earlier, the department used to issue green, yellow and red stickers in descending order of hygiene to hotels and restaurants. The drive was directed more at eateries located along major highways, but it dissipated due to lack of an effective monitoring mechanism.

The new directive has envisioned forming a nine-member committee led by the director general of the DFTQC. Wasti said the high-level panel would be authorised to form sub-committees to conduct market inspection, deal with complaints and evaluate food businesses. According to him, the department will begin with food outlets along main highways. “Gradually, we will focus on eateries in urban areas including the Kathmandu Valley,” Wasti said.