Beijing looking for restaurants with unhygienic kitchens

Beijing's food safety watchdog has begun a two-week sanitation inspection of the city's restaurants, following news reports that two Beijing branches of a popular hotpot chain were unhygienic.

The Beijing Food and Drug Administration announced the inspection over the weekend, saying its main targets will be restaurant chains, canteen suppliers and establishments with previous food safety problems.

"Business licenses, dishwashers, sanitation equipment and pest and disease control are the focus of the inspection," said Duan Zhiyong, director of the administration's supervision department.

Legal Evening News, a Beijing newspaper, reported on Friday that the operations of two Beijing branches of Haidilao, a popular hotpot chain with restaurants in about 60 Chinese cities, were unsanitary.

Videos taken by hidden cameras showed rat-infested kitchens, a dishwasher caked with oily food residue and a worker trying to fix a sewage blockage with a soup ladle.