City of Monash is Victoria’s food safety breach capital, figures show

THE City of Monash is hell’s kitchen, according to Victorian government figures.

The local government area in the southeastern suburbs recorded five breaches of safe food handling practices on a government health website.

Convictions over the past 18 months were listed for a total of 34 Victorian businesses. Just two were outside Melbourne.

Two Dream Cakes Cafe in Oakleigh was fined $20,000, plus $12,000 in costs, in August last year for unsafe food handling and failures to maintain food premises to a standard of cleanliness, to take all practicable measures to eradicate and prevent pests, and to ensure equipment was clean.

Company director Helen Katsaras was also fined $10,000 and $12,000 in costs.

Raramen in Glen Waverley was fined $12,000 and $7000 in costs in July for a string of offences including unsafe food handling and failures to ensure staff had proper food safety skills and to maintain cleanliness “where there was no accumulation of garbage, food waste, dirt, grease”.

A popular Southbank restaurant, Red Emperor, was fined $10,000 and $3000 in costs in January for failing to store food to protect it from contamination and failing to maintain the food premises to a standard of cleanliness “where there was no accumulation of food waste, dirt, grease”, and failing to maintain clean fixtures and fittings.

Over two days in May 2014, the restaurant was found guilty of failing to take all practicable measures to prevent pests entering the food premises and to eradicate and prevent the harbourage of pests.

Two other city restaurants — Aloi Na and Post Deng Cafe — were hit hard in the pocket this year.

Aloi Na in Hardware Lane was fined $60,000 for eight breaches of the Food Act, while Post Deng Cafe in Little Bourke St was fined $50,000 for 11 breaches.

The two owners of Wantirna’s Mei Jing in Knox were fined $8000 and $4000 in June last year after each being found guilty of 14 offences under the Food Act.

These included failing to store food to protect it from contamination, chipped eating utensils, dirty floors, and failing to take all practicable measures to prevent pests.

The shire of Yarra Ranges also recorded five food breaches over the past 18 months — all for operating a food business from a food premises not registered with the council.

Source : Herald Sun      Andrew Jefferson   15th September 2015