Advertisement

Hotel that hosted 2008 G8 summit latest to admit faked menu items

TOKYO, Nov. 15 (UPI) -- Officials at a 2008 gathering of eight world economic powers didn't eat what was described on the menu, a Japanese hotel that hosted the event has admitted.

The Windsor Hotel Toya in Toyako said seven menu items served at three of the hotel's restaurants and by room service during the Group of Eight summit were misrepresented and promised customers full refunds, The Mainichi reported Friday.

Advertisement

The hotel's deputy general manager said since 2009, some 203 customers had ordered what was listed on the menu as Hokkaido smoked salmon that was in reality from Chile and Norway. Some 714 orders of "jidori" and "Shiretoko jidori" brand chicken had been served that actually wasn't made from free-range chicken as required by Japanese agricultural standards.

The revelation was the latest in a series of admissions by restaurants about the real identity of some menu items that comes as Japan is trying to convince South Korea and other countries to lift bans on imports of Japanese food imposed after the Fukushima nuclear plant disaster, the British newspaper The Guardian reported.

Last month, Hankyu Hanshin hotel chain, based in Osaka, said dozens of items on its menus had been described falsely since 2006, affecting meals served to 78,000 diners. One of the items was a dish that was described as containing red salmon caviar that was actually the eggs of flying fish.

Advertisement

This summer, The Prince hotel in Tokyo confessed a "scallop" dish was actually made from a cheaper type of shellfish. The hotel eventually corrected 50 menu items at dozens of its restaurants.

The scandal had led to a number of other restaurants making similar confessions.

Latest Headlines