Bakery Betta Maid fined $63,000 for selling unsafe food
Unanderra bakery Betta Maid, which was placed in liquidation last year, has been fined $63,000 for selling unsafe food and breaching hygiene standards.
The bakery was fined last week in Wollongong Court in relation to 10 charges the New South Wales Food Authority had brought against Betta Maid.
The court case followed investigations into a salmonella outbreak in 10 aged care facilities on the South Coast and ACT between January and March 2015. The deadly outbreak was found in apple strudel and a chocolate slice.
Samples of food produced by the bakery and taken from the aged-care facilities tested positive for Salmonella bovismorbificans.
The same rare strain was found in 31 infected residents at the aged-care facilities. Two of them died.
There were no reports of illness in the wider community related to consumption of food from the bakery.
The cause of the outbreak was traced back to back to Betta Maid. The Food Authority had found traces of salmonella on food preparation surfaces at the bakery’s Berkeley Road facility and in food samples obtained at the site.
Magistrate Geraldine Beattie found that there had been a hygiene failure. She subsequently fined the company.
’This court result serves as a reminder to all food businesses why food safety systems are crucial, particularly those businesses serving food to the most vulnerable in our community,’’ NSW Food Authority CEO Lisa Szabo told the Illawarra Mercury.
’Food businesses are obliged to ensure their food is safe and suitable for human consumption and comply with the standards in the NSW Food Act 2003.”
As a result of the investigation, the bakery was shut down in March 2015. A prohibition order was issued forbidding the bakery from operating.
In April last year, one month after it was ordered to close its doors, Betta Maid announced it would close its doors for good and the company was placed into liquidation.
Charges brought against the company director, Udo Boschan, have been adjourned to May 26.
By Leon Gettler, 2nd May 2016
