A tourism company that runs an ice hotel in Tamokdalen in Troms has been ordered by the Norwegian Food Safety Authority not to use large quantities of ice imported from Finland. According to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, there is a fear that the blocks of ice may contain potentially infectious diseases, says Torkjell Andersen, head of department in the Norwegian Food Safety Authority in Troms and Svalbard. – That is why the Norwegian Food Safety Authority has decided that the blocks of ice must either be destroyed or sent back to Northern Finland, Andersen says to news. Ice with special properties For several years, the ice hotel in Tamokdalen in Troms has been a favorite destination for foreign tourists. Surrounded by ice, tourists can spend the night, eat dinner and have a drink in the special hotel. Even the glasses are made of ice, according to the website of the company Tromsø Ice Domes, which runs the tourism facility in Tamokdalen. This year’s season at the ice hotel in Tamokdalen is just getting started. On Thursday, 150 guests visited the hotel. Photo: Rune Nordgård Andreassen / news This year’s season at the ice hotel in Tamokdalen is just getting started. On Thursday, 150 guests visited the hotel. Photo: Rune Nordgård Andreassen / news In addition, the rooms are decorated with beautiful sculptures, including those made of ice. According to the plan, the sculptures for the winter hotel season were to be carved out of blocks of ice, taken from a watercourse in Finland. General manager of Tromsø Ice Domes, Morten Pettersen, says the Finnish ice has unique properties. – It is taken from a slow-flowing river, where the ice is very clear, but at the same time has small air bubbles in it. When you then make sculptures and light them, the decoration becomes very nice, he says. Sales offer imposed At the end of March, 36 large blocks of ice were therefore carved out of the river Lainio north of Rovaniemi, and sent by car to Norway. Here they have been stored in a freezer container, awaiting sub-zero temperatures and the new season. But the plans for Finnish ice sculptures were eventually put on hold….ice. It happened after the Norwegian Food Safety Authority and the Veterinary Institute became involved in the case. Because what if these Finnish blocks of ice contain disease? Here is the container with the Finnish ice blocks. Photo: Rune Nordgård Andreassen / news According to the Norwegian Food Safety Authority, the ice comes from a watercourse in Finland with an unknown infection status. The horror scenario is that infectious fish diseases such as infectious salmon anemia and Gyrodactylus salaris are introduced to the waterways on the Norwegian side. The ice hotel is located in the same area as the watershed for Målselva and Nordkjoselva, both of which are salmon-carrying waterways. – You want to avoid infectious substances entering these waterways at all costs. The precautionary principle therefore trumps the need that the operators of the ice hotel have for the ice blocks, says Andersen. Sending the ice back For almost nine months, blocks of ice have been in a freezer container in Tamokdalen, awaiting a final decision from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. It came last week: The blocks of ice must be destroyed or sent back to Finland. The operators of the ice hotel have only a partial understanding of the objections from the Norwegian Food Safety Authority. Morten Pettersen, general manager Tromsø Ice Domes. Photo: Rune Nordgård Andreassen / news – We understand that there is a one in a million chance that there are bacteria and viruses in the ice. At the same time, we are so far from the river that when the ice melts in the spring, the water will be filtered into the ground. But the Norwegian Food Safety Authority has zero tolerance. We have to deal with that, says Pettersen. The company is therefore now working to sell the imported ice back to Finland. According to Pettersen, there are already several buyers on hand. In addition, the ice also has a history now, he emphasizes with a smile. As a replacement for the Finnish ice, Tromsø Ice Domes has instead obtained ice from a lake in Storfjord. However, this ice does not have the same qualities as the Finnish ice, says Pettersen. This is what one of the hotel rooms looks like at the ice hotel in Tamokdalen. Photo: Rune Nordgård Andreassen / NRKS This is what one of the hotel rooms looks like at the ice hotel in Tamokdalen. Photo: Rune Nordgård Andreassen / news – What has this cost you? – Huff, I don’t know if I dare to say that. The purchase of the Finnish ice alone cost over NOK 100,000, says Morten Pettersen. – In addition, we have had to spend an enormous number of hours harvesting ice ourselves and transporting it. So there is talk of a few hundred thousand kroner that have gone with it.
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Trouble for ice hotels – The Norwegian Food Safety Authority fears blocks of ice have infectious diseases – news Troms and Finnmark
