Dubai restaurants will face stiff fines for cooking with alcohol following a municipality ban, a United Arab Emirates newspaper reported on Monday. The National daily reported that Dubai's municipality sent a notice to restaurants banning the sale of dishes cooked with alcohol and threatened fines of up to 20,000 dirhams (5,445 dollars).
Restaurants had ignored a previous ban on using alcohol, a common element in dishes such as sushi and Teriyaki sauce, and in European cuisine. "There have been a lot of violations, with hotels often hiding content of alcohol in food from customers," the Abu Dhabi newspaper quoted Ahmed al-Ali, the head of food inspections at the municipality, as saying. He added that the decision was taken in part after customer complaints. "This is a Muslim society and visitors to our hotels are our guests. It is important to ensure they are informed about everything," he said.