SA councils issue nearly 400 enforcement notices to food businesses in a year
Hundreds of SA food businesses have been told to clean up their act, and hundreds more warned, after council inspections. See how your council stacks up for food safety.
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Hundreds of South Australian food businesses have been told to clean up their safety standards after council inspections.
SA Health data, obtained by The Advertiser under Freedom of Information, shows there were 9430 inspections of food businesses across the state in 2018/19.
Stemming from those inspections, 392 business were hit with some form of enforcement action. A further 361 warning notices were issued.
Councils also issued 292 improvement notices to businesses after inspections, while 47 were fined for failing to comply with clean-up notices.
Councils inspect businesses under the Food Act every year.
Transgressions included foreign matter in food, chemical contamination or residue, food poisoning, unclean premises, personal hygiene, pest infestation, improper storage and labelling issues.
However, offending businesses are only named publicly if offences proceed to court action.
The Eastern Health Authority, which takes in Burnside, Campbelltown, Norwood, Payneham and St Peters, Prospect and Walkerville councils, had the highest number of businesses that required enforcement, with 94.
West Torrens Council had 38 and Port Adelaide Enfield and Tea Tree Gully both had 37.
Health Consumers Alliance of SA chief executive Julia Overton said food inspections – right across the local government sector – needed greater consistency.
She singled out the “vastly different numbers” of warning letters dispatched by individual councils.
Unley Council had the highest number of warning letters with 180, but only issued eight improvement notices.
Ms Overton said it was difficult to know which was the worst performing council for food safety and hard to compare “like for like”.
Salisbury Council, according to the SA Health data, had not issued any warning letters despite inspecting 673 businesses in 2018/19 and fining two of them.
An SA Health spokeswoman said the variations showed councils were “responsible for their own enforcement”.
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An Unley Council spokeswoman said warning letters were issued by the council for “non-compliance to food safety standards” and covered “minor or major issues” seen by its inspection team.
The spokeswoman said the 180 warning letters – issued to a total of 128 businesses – should send a message to all local food businesses.
“Any breach of food safety standards is a concern for council,” the spokeswoman said.
“Please be aware that a warning letter could include a letter sent post-inspection to a business which received five-star compliance yet may have had one minor issue requiring attention.”
Health Consumers Alliance of SA and Consumers SA have previously called for more transparency around food inspections to identify businesses that transgress.