On July 17, the Facebook page "BEcause of the News" posted a photo of an insect suspected of being a cockroach appearing on a plate of food at Hoa Lu 2 Restaurant (Quy Nhon Nam Ward, Gia Lai Province) with the words " double Protein", attracting public attention.
According to shared information, the incident occurred at around 9:00 p.m. on July 16. The total cost of the meal was 4,978,000 VND. However, the payment invoice did not include the "quet kho port fruit bowl" dish - a dish that is said to have cockroaches inside as reported.
After only a few hours of posting, information and images about the incident attracted a large number of interactions, shares and comments. Many social media users believe that the discovery of cockroaches in the dishes is a sign of unsanitary conditions, directly affecting the health of diners and damaging the inherent image of friendly, clean tourism in Quy Nhon.
To verify the information, a reporter from Lao Dong Newspaper contacted Mr. Nguyen Dinh Phuc (born in 1981) - owner of Hoa Lu 2 Restaurant. However, when asked about the information spread on social networks regarding the dish with cockroaches, Mr. Phuc expressed a reaction and said that "if there is bad news, we should not continue talking to reporters", then immediately turned off the phone.
Immediately after learning about the incident, on July 17, Ms. Nguyen Thi Bich Hoa - Chairman of Quy Nhon Nam Ward People's Committee - directed the relevant agencies to urgently inspect the business activities and food hygiene and safety at this restaurant, and at the same time verify and clarify information about the appearance of cockroaches in the dish.
On the afternoon of July 17, the inspection team went to the restaurant but Mr. Phuc was not present. Ms. Nguyen Thi Thuy Tram - manager of Hoa Lu 2 Restaurant - was authorized to work with the inspection team.
Through investigation, Ms. Tram confirmed that the "pot of quet" with cockroaches occurred at Hoa Lu 2 Restaurant on the evening of July 16, true to the information spread online and said Ms. Tram was the one who directly handled the incident.
"The group of 8 guests ate in room 3 of the restaurant, with service staff. However, when customers discovered cockroaches in the banh chung and quet fruit dish, the staff were not present in the room. Immediately after receiving the feedback, I went in to check and saw the rooster on the dining table, so I apologized to the customers, did not charge for the food and was accepted by the customers," Ms. Tram explained.
After the incident, Ms. Tram, on behalf of the restaurant, apologized to diners, at the same time learned from experience and pledged to strengthen process control throughout the service stage to ensure hygiene and food safety.
Through inspection of the kitchen area, the inspection team discovered that the food storage location did not meet the requirements for preventing cross-contamination between raw and cooked foods; the drainage culvert was open, smelly, causing unsanitary conditions; the food sample storage book was not complete according to regulations...
From the initial inspection results, the leader of the Department of Culture - Social Affairs of Quy Nhon Nam Ward said that he will continue to verify and clarify the incident of the dish served to customers at Hoa Lu 2 Restaurant being discovered to have cockroaches, and will have appropriate handling as soon as the results are available.
