DutchNews.nl - DutchNews.nl brings daily news from The Netherlands in English

17 October 2025
Newsletter Donate Advertise
  • News
  • Life in the Netherlands
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
  • Search
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Election 2025
  • Art and culture
  • Sport
  • Europe
  • Society
  • Environment
  • Health
  • Housing
  • Education
  • News
    • Home
    • Economy
    • Election 2025
    • Art and culture
    • Sport
    • Europe
    • Society
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
    • Education
  • Life in the Netherlands
    • Latest
    • Opinion
    • Books
    • Travel
    • 10 Questions
    • Learning Dutch
    • Inburgering with DN
    • Food & Drink
    • Ask us anything
  • Jobs
  • Podcast
  • About us
    • Team
    • Donate
    • Advertise
    • Writing for Dutch News
    • Contact us
    • Privacy
    • Newsletter
  • Search

Food safety inspectors get tough on restaurants, close 168 in 2017

April 9, 2019
A file photograph of a mouse. Photo: Depositphotos.com
A file photograph of a mouse. Photo: Depositphotos.com

The Dutch food safety board closed 168 restaurants for poor hygiene in 2017 and placed a further 279 under extra supervision, RTL said on Tuesday.

A company is closed down if it had been fined at least three times and may only reopen on the say so of inspectors, RTL, which first asked for the information a year ago, said.

Vermin such as mice and cockroaches was found in almost half the 447 restaurants and cafes in the report and 40% were fined for poor food safety after high levels of bacteria were found in food samples.

NVWA spokesman Benno Bruggink told RTL that the organisation now has a better picture of where problematic restaurants and cafes are. ‘This means we don’t have to keep visiting the good ones and can pay more attention to the bad ones,’ he said.

One quarter of the restaurants on the inspectors’ blacklist were in Amsterdam, where mice, rats and cockroaches pose particular problems. Two in three fines handed out in Amsterdam were for vermin.

The broadcaster used freedom of information legislation to first apply for the information in January 2018 but the details were only released a year later.

Check which restaurants you visit were listed

Share this article
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Reddit
  • Copy URL
Society
Thank you for donating to DutchNews.nl.

We could not provide the Dutch News service, and keep it free of charge, without the generous support of our readers. Your donations allow us to report on issues you tell us matter, and provide you with a summary of the most important Dutch news each day.

Make a donation
Latest
Show more
Election watch: D66 on the rise, Yesilgöz says no
Amsterdam's PvdA branch wants to ban tourists from coffeeshops
How much Dutch does it take for a Dutch person to vote?
Type 2 diabetes costs Dutch economy over €1 billion a year
Two women arrested for dating fraud which netted them €550,000
NewsHomeEconomyElection 2025Art and cultureSportEuropeSocietyEnvironmentHealthHousingEducation
Life in the NetherlandsLatestOpinionBooksTravel10 QuestionsLearning DutchInburgering with DNFood & DrinkAsk us anything
About usTeamDonateAdvertiseWriting for Dutch NewsContact usPrivacyNewsletter
© 2025 DutchNews | Cookie settings

Help us to keep providing you with up-to-date news about this month's Dutch general election.

Our thanks to everyone who donates regularly to Dutch News. It costs money to produce our daily news service, our original features and daily newsletters, and we could not do it without you.

If you have not yet made a donation, or did so a while ago, you can do so via these links

The DutchNews.nl team

Donate now

Dutchnews Survey

Please help us making DutchNews.nl a better read by taking part in a short survey.

Take part now