Serious health breaches at Chatswood Chinese restaurant
A NSW Chinese restaurant has failed 15 of its last 20 health inspections and received fines amounting to $25,000.
On Thursday, Downing Centre Local Court heard that last September, Fortune Place Chinese Restaurant in Chatswood was inspected by the Willoughby Council, where officers uncovered a slew of health and sanitation risks.
These included a bucket filled with raw meat and ginger, employees working on an unsanitised cutting board, raw food dripping onto a box of lettuce and dirty surfaces, walls, floors and ceilings.
Images showed food left uncovered and soaked in a bucket on the floor, a possible “point of entry for pests” through a large hole in the ceiling of the storage room, a cardboard box containing thawing chicken and uncovered raw eggs sitting beside ready-to-eat food.
The restaurant had received 20 penalty infringements dating back to 2013 and a brief voluntary closure in 2015.
Fortune Place Chinese Restaurant only fixed all the listed problems from their September inspection after their 20th “unsatisfactory” inspection report and after the council had commenced legal proceedings, a council prosecutor told the court.
The restaurant was charged with five counts of failure to comply with the provisions of the Food Standards Code.
Maximum penalty for these breaches is $250,000.
In his written submissions to the court, the owner blamed lack of staff training and a language barrier but said staff has since had meetings about health and safety and the head chef has completed a food safety training program.
He requested the court to “cancel his penalty” and stated that due to COVID-19, he has seen a reduction in sales of 70% and his staff are hard at work trying to help the business survive.
But Magistrate Jennifer Atkinson said “the public are put at risk when food standards aren’t complied with. They are at risk of getting sick and consequences can be quite severe.”
Fortune Place Chinese Restaurant was consequently fined $5000 for each of their five charges.
They were also ordered to pay Willoughby Council $2000 for legal fees.
Irit Jackson, 20th October 2020
