Austrian parliament restaurant in hot water over 'local' food imported from Bangladesh, China

The shrimps served at the restaurant of the Austrian parliament were imported from Bangladesh. (Representational image: Unsplash)

A restaurant in Austria's parliament that touted its use of high-quality organic and local produce has come under fire after media this week revealed that in fact frozen fish from Kazakhstan and Bangladeshi shrimps were served.

The culinary scandal was sparked by a report by weekly magazine Falter, which uncovered that the chic restaurant had not strictly adhered to conditions despite receiving subsidies for being sustainable.

The revelations that prompted a probe into the alleged food fraud left a sour taste in the mouths of many, with lawmakers, lobbyists and visitors frequently eating at the Kelsen restaurant in the freshly renovated parliament.

"The examination of the possible consequences for the lease agreement has not yet been completed," the parliament's management told AFP on Wednesday, without providing further details about the ongoing investigation.

Instead of serving sustainable and regional organic food as stipulated in its contract, which had received more than half a million euros ($586,000) in public subsidies, imported food from the farthest corners of the world ended up on platters.

"The invoices available to the editorial staff attest to this," said Falter, citing neither organic nor local products like Turkish sea bream, Bangladeshi shrimps and spring rolls imported from China making it into today's specials.

The products were supplied by Transgourmet, Europe's second-largest wholesale supplies business.

Even Austria's signature dish, the Tafelspitz, a tender piece of beef slowly simmered in vegetable broth and served with horseradish, in fact came straight from the Netherlands.

Two years ago, Kelsen had won a highly competitive tender to take over the parliament restaurant.

Its website boasted a sustainability label, claiming that at the "heart of democracy" in central Vienna, the cuisine was "as local and seasonal as possible".

Restaurant management has meanwhile acknowledged in a statement that "the initial target for organic products could not be maintained".

It, however, stressed that "the cases mentioned represent 1.8 percent of purchases and do not reflect everyday practices".

Nevertheless, the restaurant's eco label has since been scrapped.