Ferntree Gully food fines
Knox Council, at the foothill of the Dandenong Ranges in Melbourne, has been busy lately cracking down on food outlets breaching food safety rules.
The council has received a mind boggling 99 complaints about food outlets in the last year.
As a result, it’s handed out 17 on-the-spot fines totalling $23,000.
The complaints, received between November 2015 and October 2016, covered a range of breaches.
57 - state/condition of food premises;
28 - foreign matter/unsafe food;
13 - labelling;
one about food allergens
In one case, a business was hit with a a $20,000 fine for unclean and unhygienic premises.
Then there was another one that was fined $3000 for trading unregistered.
Knox Council’s city development director Angelo Kourambas told the Herald Sun his council had inspected 863 outlets to the end of September.
He said 87 inspections were in response to complaints from the public.
He would not name the outlets, saying the businesses were protected by privacy laws.
However, one place that is in the public domain is Captain America’s Hamburger Heaven in Ferntree Gully.
The eatery’s director Paul Dickie pleaded guilty and was convicted in the Ringwood Magistrates’ Court on November 9 last year.
He was fined $40,000 for a number of Food Act breaches.
These included:
■ failing to store food to protect against contamination;
■ failing to take all necessary steps to prevent contamination during processing;
■ failing to have floors, walls and ceilings that could be effectively cleaned;
■ failing to ensure fixtures, fittings and equipment were fit for use;
■ failing to maintain the restaurant, and fittings, fixtures and equipment, to a standard of cleanliness “where there is there no accumulation of food waste, dirt, grease, or other visible matter”; and
■ failing to maintain the restaurant, and fixtures, fitting and equipment, “in a good state of repair and working order”.
But Mr Dickie defended the restaurant, saying he had spent a lot of money on it and that the place had passed its past two health inspections, including one several weeks ago.
“There has been no incidences of anyone getting sick,” Mr Dickie told Leader newspaper.
“There is no way I’d compromise the health of patrons.
“I haven’t done anything wrong.”
He said he had only pleaded guilty to the offences because it would have cost him money to go through court.
He just didn’t want to go through the process.
by Leon Gettler, November 10th 2016
