Pet food on the menu at Perth restaurant

An Indian restaurant in Perth has been fined nearly $14,000 for preparing pet food in its premises.

Inspectors walked into Cafe Marica, in Perth suburb Canning Vale, just as the chef was preparing the meat which was clearly labelled as pet food and “not for human consumption”.

Gosnells chief executive officer Ian Cowie said the breach related to the fact the pet meat was being kept in the same premises where food was being prepared.

Owner Kopikaran Krishnasamy said the incident was due to the chef not speaking English and immediately took to Facebook to defend the restaurant’s reputation, saying it was also related to an error by the supplier.

“We believe our mistake was trusting our supplier blindly and going ahead with the purchase back in February 2018,” he wrote.

“Since then we have immediately discontinued purchases from the supplier and stepped up our hygiene practices. We are truly grateful no-one has consumed the meat and that the inspection officers have helped us save our customers from an unpleasant experience.”

Sheridan Randall - 4/9/18