Highway eateries face scrutiny over expired food and safety standards

Federal authorities have focused inspections on roadside dining establishments along major routes to ensure travellers receive safe and wholesome meals. Officials stated that transport vehicles should only stop at graded venues. The department deployed a specialized team equipped with mobile testing vans to examine food quality and apply classification stickers in Dhading and Chitwan districts. The Director-General explained that while the Food Hygiene and Quality Act assigns primary responsibility for monitoring, inspection, grading, and registration to local levels, federal intervention remains necessary due to capacity constraints. Officials acknowledged a shortage of personnel preventing them from reaching all seventy-seven districts, though festive season monitoring is currently prioritised. Travellers have been urged to patronise only those dining locations displaying green or yellow stickers indicating their respective grading categories. When violations are discovered, authorities initially issue warnings before pursuing legal action under relevant legislation if offences are repeated. Inspectors check for expired ingredients, artificial colouring agents, and overall hygiene standards. Consumer rights advocates have criticised the persistent nature of these issues, noting that concerns regarding stale provisions, unhygienic conditions, and absent price lists have been raised repeatedly over the past decade. Despite numerous enforcement actions announced by various bodies across multiple years, critics argue that roadside establishments have failed to show meaningful or permanent improvement.