Clayfield’s House of Fu owners Thong Duy Vo and Vinh Ngoc Tran cop fine of over food safety breaches

Clayfield’s House of Fu owners have copped hefty fines over food safety breaches including faeces found in food prep areas and near the hand wash basin.

The owners of a Clayfield restaurant where rat droppings were present compromised the safety of the public, a Brisbane Magistrate said.

House of Fu’s Thong Duy Vo and Vinh Ngoc Tran today pleaded guilty to three charges each of failing to comply with the food standards code.

The Brisbane Magistrates Court heard a council inspector visited the restaurant in November 2019 and issued an improvement notice.

Vinh Ngoc Tran leaves the Magistrates Court in Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

A month later a follow up audit found noncompliance in relation to cleanliness and rodent droppings.

Brisbane City Council prosecutor Jac Thong said the faeces were found in the food prep area, shelving and near the hand wash basin.

“This is a concerning aspect as rats and or their fleeces have the potential to transfer harmful bacteria around surfaces, especially where food is prepared,” he said.

The business was immediately shut down but reopened two days later when the issues were rectified.

Despite House of Fu having six previous audits with no convictions incurred and a three star rating the restaurant had a “longstanding issue” with cleanliness.

The men’s lawyer Yen Ho said the offending occurred when the restaurant was very busy with her clients being the only staff.

Thong Duy Vo leaves the Magistrates Court in Brisbane. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dan Peled

In a letter read to the court Vo acknowledged mistakes were made, attributing them to poor management not the purposeful neglect of customer safety.

“In hindsight, I can see how one little shortcut or slight oversight may well have led to some more unintended consequence and then things become the norm, obviously unacceptable, but human nature,” he said.

Ms Yen said the men made full admissions to council and improved their restaurant with no further breaches.

Magistrate Michael Quinn said there must be “zero tolerance” when it came to customer safety issues.

“It cannot be an excuse and will never be regarded as an excuse, where safety of the public is concerned, that corners had to be cut because of cost or staff issues,” he said.

“Regrettably here safety of the public was compromised, we are talking about food preparation which very easily can lead to illness and other consequences.”

Vo and Tran were fined $5,500 each with no convictions recorded.