Hotels have a month to stop using alcohol in food

Hotels in Dubai have one month to stop using alcohol in food preparation or face stiff fines, a top official told Arabian Business on Monday.

Fines will range from AED2000 to AED20,000, even rising to as much as AED500,000 for serious repeat offenders.

Ahmed Abdul Rahman Al Ali, head of food inspection at the Food Control Department of Dubai Municipality, confirmed there was a total ban on the use of alcohol in food, but said he did not think it would harm hotels.

“I don’t think it will affect businesses or tourism. There are a lot of different meals from around the world catered for in Dubai’s restaurants, so the choice will still be there. Also, some dishes can change alcohol for a different flavour to get the same taste,” he said.

He said the AED500,000 fine, was a last resort, adding: “But we don’t want to go to that level. We don’t want businesses to go under.”

“We are not looking for the fines at the moment. The inspectors will decide whether they get a notice period of one month.”

Some restaurants have already enforced the ban, while others were waiting for further clarification from officials. Chefs told Arabian Business on Sunday they were expecting to receive a revised circular on Tuesday, but Al Ali ruled this out.

Luca Gagliardi, general manager of Verre by Gordon Ramsey, said: “This law will affect our restaurant very much because we do use alcohol in some of our signature dishes, like the terrine of foie gras marinated in Sauternes and the Madeira veloute that we serve with our pithivier of quail.”

Al Ali said the reason for the clampdown of an existing law issued in 2003 was following a number of complaints from Muslims about alcohol in food.

The municipality issued a circular stating that the use of alcohol in the preparation and cooking of food, and the sale of food containing alcohol was “strictly prohibited”.

“We found a lot of violations. Some local Muslims, and foreign Muslims visiting Dubai, were surprised that the food they ordered had alcohol. In some cases they did not realise that what they had ordered contained alcohol because of the way it was written on the menu.”