Food ban hits Thai restaurants in EU
Bangkok Post: 19 Jan 2011
Overseas restaurants hard hit by food banThai restaurants in Europe are facing ruin as a result of a ban on fresh vegetable and fruit exports after EU officials found shipments to be contaminated with insects.
The Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry's Agriculture Department will impose a ban from Feb 1 on exports of 16 vegetables in five categories: basil, chilli and capsicum, eggplant, bitter gourds and parsley.
The Association of Thai Business in the UK has called on the government to toughen food safety checks following the reports of contaminated produce in an effort to regain the trust of European Union authorities.
The EU alerted Thailand before last September that contaminated shipments had been discovered and it began banning further imports in December.
Association vice-chairman Wanchai Poonum said fresh produce exporters and Thai restaurants were suffering after the Agriculture and Cooperatives Ministry responded to the EU action by limiting fresh produce exports to the EU.
Restaurateurs say they have been unable to secure enough supplies since last September.
The Commerce and Agriculture and Cooperatives ministries, the Thai Chamber of Commerce and the National Food Institute have agreed to push vegetable production standards on to the national agenda to ensure the safety of consumers in the EU and other overseas markets.
"Now we have to turn to fresh produce from Vietnam and India and the shortage is causing the prices to go up some 30%," Mr Wanchai said.
He said the association would hold talks with Thai businesses on the issue at the Thai embassy in London on Jan27.
"The government has to deal straightforwardly with the problem and solve it at once," he said.
Mr Wanchai said the problem could hurt exports to Japan and the US if it was allowed to persist.
Nooror Somany Steppe, founding partner of Blue Elephant Thai Restaurant which has seven restaurants in Europe, said Thai vegetables such as sweet basil and holy basil were used in all her restaurants' curries. Even the Blue Elephant Trade Office, which exports fresh and dry ingredients, has had to put these products on hold.
"I have to rely on our own blended curry paste, which is not affected by the ban since it goes through a pasteurising process. It's not as good as using fresh ingredients, but it's better than not having any at all," Ms Nooror said, adding she had tried Italian basil but the taste was totally different.
"Farmers need to find a way around this problem _ perhaps exporting frozen vegetables."
The proprietor of Suk Saran Restaurant in Wimbledon, London, said Thai restaurants were severely affected by the vegetable shortage. "Sweet basil is the heart of many Thai dishes," she said, asking not to be named.
"Without it, the standard and quality of our food drops. True, we can opt for ready-made paste, but it just doesn't taste the same."
The restaurant owner said suppliers warned her about two months ago that there would be a shortage of sweet basil.
"At the time, we didn't know the reason for the shortage. After that, it became more and more scarce, until around Christmas time it was impossible to get hold of it at all. It was like that for a few weeks."
The price was expensive, increasing from 9.60 (about 470 baht) a kilogramme to almost 20 (about 970 baht).
"But we had no choice but to buy it because we need it to make our food taste good. We are hoping that the government will do something about this as many Thai restaurants here are in big trouble," the restaurant owner said.
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/217053/overseas-restaurants-hard-hit-by-food-ban
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