SA business Valentino Pizza Cafe being prosecuted for 27 alleged breaches of food safety code including broken glass on pizza

The pizza trade can be cutthroat, but a court has heard claims this Adelaide cafe almost made that literal by serving a customer broken glass in their toppings.

A pizza bar in Adelaide’s northeast left three pieces of broken glass in the toppings of one of their deliveries and a customer “almost consumed” two of them, a court has heard.

Port Adelaide Enfield Council health authorities have further alleged Valentino Pizza Cafe delivered the unsafe food less than a month after it was caught storing mouldy oysters in its supplies.

The council is prosecuting the cafe’s owners, in the Adelaide Magistrates Court, for almost 30 breaches of food standards.

In its court documents, the council alleges Mahdi and Mohammed Al Haiery failed to improve their Valley View store despite two warning notices.

The council alleges that, in addition to dirty fixtures, holes in walls and ceilings and a lack of pest control, the duo placed one of their customers at risk of harm.

“On November 10, 2020, they sold unsuitable food that had three pieces of broken glass in amongst the toppings,” its papers allege.

“Two of the pieces of glass were found when they were almost consumed by the consumer and one of his guests … the third piece was observed on top of the food.”

Valentino Pizza Cafe in Valley View

Mahdi Al Haiery, of Pooraka, and Mohammed Al Haiery, of Northgate, have yet to plead to 27 counts of breaching the food standards code. The charges arise from four visits, by council inspectors, to Valentino Pizza Cafe – on September 18 and November 16, 2020, and January 5 and 27, 2021.

In court papers, the council alleges the cafe had tomato sauce, vegetables, uncooked chips and wedges uncovered on floors and in containers.

It further alleges raw chicken was stored alongside salad, and that staff failed to wash their hands or gloves while handling the poultry.

Repurposed gelati containers were, it alleges, used as “spice shakers” – creating the potential for metal shavings to contaminate food.

The council alleges milk crates, a container of yeast and its measuring cup were all mouldy, as were oysters “located in containers with food used to prepare pizzas”.

It alleges the cafe’s toilets, walls and floors were unclean with “visible grime” and that holes in the ceiling were not patched, despite directions to do so.

“(The duo) failed to ensure that there was no likelihood that food may become contaminated during the packaging process,” the papers allege.

“(They) failed to remove all pieces of broken glass on the floor, and stored (pizza) boxes on the floor in close proximity to pieces of broken glass.”

Mahdi and Mohammed Al Haiery will face court in July.