The Courier Mail — It was the third restaurant in a month to be fined for unsafe food practices.
In one case, a cockroach was found in a meal.
Domino's Pizza Enterprises, which operates a store at Mt Gravatt, was found guilty of 20 breaches of the Food Act during a hearing in the Holland Park Magistrates Court on February 19.
The breaches, which occurred in 2008, included 20 to 25 cockroaches observed in the store's preparation area, more cockroaches and cockroach eggs under a bench and more in the cold room and other areas.
The council inspector noted that the only visible cockroach trap was under a desk in an office and that trap was found to be full of dead cockroaches.
The second was a Forest Lake chinese restaurant which was fined $25,000 for three breaches of health regulations.
The first breach involved the sale of a sweet and sour pork and fried rice dish which contained a cockroach and cockroach egg sack.
In a statement presented during court proceedings, Brisbane City Council alleged that a council environmental health inspector found rodent droppings on a food bench and a live cockroach crawling across a food preparation area.
The third was Fortitude Valley business Kwan Wo Noodle Foods Pty Ltd.
That restaurant was fined $18,000 for six breaches of the Food Act in 2008, after parts of its premises were found to be dirty and boxes of food not stored properly.
The breaches come just months before Brisbane City Council plans to introduce its new food safety program encouraging restaurants to advertise the rating they receive following similar inspections.
Lord Mayor Campbell Newman said food operators that failed to comply with the food safety standards would get a no star rating under the Eat Safe Brisbane program.
"Unfortunately some people do let the industry down but the beauty of our Eat Safe program is that those who do would have no stars to display and people would quite rightly ask why, and then vote with their feet," the Lord Mayor said.
The Eat Safe Brisbane scheme will rate Brisbane's 6000 licensed food businesses under a star system and improve food safety information for consumers.
Eat Safe Brisbane will award five stars for excellent compliance, four stars for very good performance, and three stars indicating a good performer. Two stars indicate a poor performer and below this rating businesses are non-compliant.
Food Rating Schemes are becoming standard around the world, with cities including London, Toronto and Los Angeles, making inspection results publicly available.
Source:
The Courier Mail. "Restaurants fined over cockroach infestations," http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/restaurants-fined-over-cockroach-infestations/story-e6freon6-1225837502547; 05 Mar. 2010.
