Mr Curry Pty Ltd pleads guilty to food safety breaches

A popular eatery on one of Brisbane’s most popular dining strips has been fined thousands after “black rodent grease” was found by food safety officials, a court has heard.

Food safety officials said the heavy accumulation of 'black rodent grease' incidated the area had been frequently travelled by rodents.

A Japanese curry eatery in Fortitude Valley has been fined thousands after “black rodent grease” was found at the heritage-listed location, a court has heard.

Mr Curry Pty Ltd and its director Yoshinobu Takano, 44, pleaded guilty to one count each of failing to comply with an improvement notice and three counts each of contravening a condition of a food business licence in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday.

The court heard a Brisbane Council inspector visited Mr Curry’s takeaway restaurant on Brunswick St in August 2022 after receiving a complaint about rodents.

An improvement notice was issued after the inspector found rodent faeces in multiple places at the eatery, the court heard.

Council revisited the eatery about two months later and found not all remediation work had not been completed and no pest controller had been engaged. Rodent faeces remained on the premises, the court heard.

Council prosecutor Amye Fairbairn said a second inspector visited later that day to serve a show cause notice and an immediate suspension of licence.

“He also inspected the premises and found a hole in the wall with a heavy accumulation of black rodent grease indicating the area had frequently been travelled by rodents,” she said.

“They hadn’t called out a pest controller, which given the serious health risks of having rodents where one is preparing food, specifically risks of disease and illness, it is a significant matter to take into consideration.”

"Black rodent grease" around a hole in the wall at Mr Curry in Fortitude Valley.

Defence barrister Lauren Gamble said neither defendant had any past conviction for food safety breaches and the defendants also had a store in Toowong, which was not part of the proceedings, for the last nine years.

She said their previous eatery in Fortitude Valley held a four star food safety rating, however they were required to move to the current location due to refurbishments. The current eatery was located in a heritage-listed building which caused some issues with maintenance and was harder to maintain, she said.

The company had engaged a pest controller on a quarterly basis but they failed to locate the hole behind a dishwasher where rodents were harbouring, the court heard.

Ms Gamble said many items in the improvement notice were dealt with before the second council inspection and the rodent problem was rectified shortly after the suspension of licence, which was reinstated soon after.

Since the incident the defendants were more proactive and had a new cleaning regime, Ms Gamble said.

“Mr Takano takes the matter very seriously,” she said.

The defendants had suffered a shortage of experienced staff due to covid at the time and earnings were modest.

Magistrate Mark Nolan accepted the guilty pleas reflected remorse and all matters had now been rectified.

He accepted personal issues requiring Takano to spend more time at home was a contributing factor.

Mr Nolan said the offences were serious and it was important the public had confidence in food operators.

Mr Curry Pty Ltd was fined $20,000 and Takano was fined $1800 personally. No convictions were recorded.

The court heard other Mr Curry restaurants in Brisbane were owned by a different company and were not related to today’s proceedings.