Corona alcohol serving rules are forcing restaurants and pubs in Bergen to throw away large amounts of food

In order to serve alcohol, restaurants, bars, and pubs must also serve food to clients. Due to the rules, such places in Bergen have to throw away large amounts of food that is not eaten.

“I think that the obligation to have food alongside alcohol is silly. I would say that around 70% of the sausages we sell go to the trash,” general manager Morten Hansen in Sjøboden told newspaper Bergensavisen.

According to the national measures, it is only permitted for restaurants, pubs, and bars to serve alcohol if they serve food at the same time.

Bergensavisen has spoken to several such places that say that many of the guests are not really hungry when they arrive and that they end up throwing away a lot of food.

National requirement

“We can’t check whether the guests actually put the food in their mouths,” Hansen said.

The government introduced the requirement for food serving alongside alcohol serving.

Climate Councilor Thor Haakon Bakke (MDG) in Bergen says that the Municipality has not made its own assessments on how the requirement reduces the spread of infection.

“In theory, it’s a good idea. The point is that people should not get too drunk because it increases the likelihood that important infection control rules will be disregarded. But when we see that a lot of food is thrown away, of course, that is bad,” he said.

Source: © NTB Scanpix / #Norway Today / #NorwayTodayNews

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