Beach Pavilion Closed Because Of Pests

Beach pavilion Blijburg at the Muiderlaan in Amsterdam was closed on Thursday. This was done to prevent that about 185 guests would have become sick of a barbecue that was planned. That was announced by the Dutch Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority (NVWA).

NVWA inspectors saw, during an audit, that there was a direct threat to food safety and closed the company immediately. The catering facility suffered from pests such as mice and flies. The kitchen was so dirty that there should not be prepared any food.

The serious facts came to light during a recheck. Inspectors had already identified shortcomings in a previous inspection, but they were not so serious that food safety was an immediate issue. Then the NVWA took already measures against the company.

Blijburg may not open the doors, according to the NVWA, until everything is spic-and-span and the company meets all the requirements. “We are now work with all hands on deck, to ensure that everything is clean. We hope to reopen on Friday,” says owner Stanja van Mierlo. She thinks that is feasible: “There is clearly not a whole renovation to take place.”

"There are mouse droppings found in a stockroom and we do our best to get the flies away. We were unfortunate that shortly before checking a freezer broke down. That, of course, attracts flies," explained van Mierlo. She says that she was 'very shocked'.

Blijburg

CNN called Blijburg two weeks ago one of the best city beaches in Europe. Blijburg is a temporary beach on the north side of the Haveneiland in IJburg (Amsterdam) and is one of the seven Amsterdam city beaches:

• Amsterdam Plage (Silodam)

• CityBeach Blijburg (IJburg)

• CityBeach Sloterplas (Slotermeer)

• CityBeach West (Houthaven)

• CityBeach South (Beatrixpark)

• Beach at the Gaasperplas

• City Beach North (NDSM)

Urban beaches are increasingly popular. The cities make them to avoid heavy traffic on the roads during hot days. The citizens don’t have to travel all the way to the beach, but find a relaxing ‘beach’ in their city. Amsterdam and Paris are known for their city beaches, but nowadays one can find city beaches in many cities in the Netherlands.