Police to investigate slug scandal at Victorian catering business
Victoria Police have been called in to investigate allegations that false evidence was used by the council to shut a catering business down resulting in 41 job losses.
Central to the claim is a slug that was found on the catering firm’s premises, with the company saying it must have been planted by food inspectors.
iCook Foods was closed by the Department of Health at the start of this year, after it was blamed for a listeria case in a nursing home.
Dandenong Council hit the company with 96 charges after an inspection of the facility where food was prepared. But all of the charges were withdrawn at court in October.
Business owner Ian Cook is preparing to sue for $26 million in damages over the scandal.
As part of the legal preparations he has hired a slug expert to look at the evidence, including the lack of trail around the slug and the conditions that were not suited to slugs.
Cook has also revealed video footage showing the circumstances around the slug’s discovery, which show a council worker do a “double take” when realising a CCTV camera had been recording the inspection.
Speaking to the Herald Sun, Dandenong Council said it “absolutely rejects the suggestion that the slug was planted”, saying the “potential cost to ratepayers was a key reason for the charges being withdrawn”.
Sheridan Randall, 19th November 2019
