Rodent droppings, mould found in West End supermarket after audit

A Brisbane supermarket owner has fronted court after rodent droppings were found in her store during an audit, including on top of bags of food and tins of oil. SEE THE PHOTOS

A West End supermarket has been fined after rodent droppings were located at the business with Triton Food Brokers sole director Anna Dou in court.

A West End supermarket has been fined after rodent droppings were located at the business.

Huashi Holdings Pty Ltd, which operates Triton Food Brokers, and its sole director Anna Dou faced Brisbane Magistrates Court on Thursday over food safety beaches.

Brisbane City Council prosecutor Jodie Crane said an audit of the business was carried out in January last year after complaints of rodents at the venue.

Triton Food Brokers manager Anna Dou leaves the Brisbane Magistrates Court. pic: Lyndon Mechielsen/Courier Mail

“Rodent droppings were located on the floor throughout the warehouse, near the walk-in freezer, near the fridges in the supermarket, on food storage shelves in the warehouse including on top of bags of food and tins of oil,” she said.

“The general uncleanliness of the premises and lack of proper food storage in the warehouse provided a food source for the rodents and also harbourage points.”

Some pest controller measures had been undertaken prior to the audit but were insufficient, she said.

The business’s food licence was suspended prompting the defendants to immediately rectify the issues including engaging a pest controller and the suspension was lifted five days later.

A popular West End supermarket has been fined after rodent droppings were located at the business.

“The immediate and significant steps that were taken by the defendants to clean the business following the audit are commendable but ultimately show how easily those matters could have been addressed had they decided to take the appropriate steps,” Ms Crane said.

Huashi Holdings pleaded guilty to eight counts of breaching the Food Standards Code and eight counts of breaching licence conditions. Dou pleaded guilty to eight counts of breaching licence conditions and eight counts of failing to ensure the corporation complied with the Food Act.

Mould was also located on one of the fridges at the business.

Dou, who was effectively self-represented with her lawyer overseas, said she bought Triton from a Greek couple in 2019 and hired two people to manage the store as she was a new immigrant who didn’t understand much about the business.

Dou told the court those two people were fired when issues arose.

“I realise the rodent issue is very serious and by that time we already had a lot of disputes with the couple we hired,” she said through a translator.

“I started focusing more on the workplace hygiene starting from January 2023 when I got more control of the business.”

A popular West End supermarket has been fined after rodent droppings and mould were located at the business.

She said rectifying the issues during the licence suspension wasn’t easy but council said they “did a great job”.

Impacted by the 2022 flooding she asked the court for leniency “as we are sincerely remorseful” and a severe penalty would be too much for a small business.

“We would hope that we can put more of our money into maintaining and keeping excellent hygiene standards and I think that’s what the penalty would like to achieve as well,” she said.

Magistrate Colin Strofield said the community relied on the council to undertake robust food safety audits to ensure confidence.

Huashi Holdings was fined $25,000 and Dou was personally fined $2000. No convictions were recorded.