Food safety name and shame: The Hills, Hornsby, Hawkesbury and Ku-Ring-Gai LGAs

Failure to keep out pests, prevent food contamination and selling spoiled goods are some of the shocking food safety breaches across north west Sydney. See the full list of businesses and their breaches here.

In the past 12 months, seven food stores spread across four north west Sydney LGAs have been caught flouting food safety and hygiene rules.

The NSW Food Authority’s ‘Name and Shame’ list exposed the most recent offenders in The Hills, Hornsby, Hawkesbury and Ku-Ring-Gai council areas.

Together, these seven restaurants and food retailers have coped over $10,000 in fines. They have been caught breaching food and safety rules a total of eleven times.

A spokeswoman from the NSW Department of Primary Industries said the name and shame registry is updated every Tuesday with information about the latest breaches.

“The NSW Food Authority publishes the Name and Shame register to allow consumers easy and transparent access to all current food safety breaches in NSW. It also serves as a deterrent to non-compliant operators,” the spokeswoman said.

But despite the breaches listed below, most businesses in the food sector pass their compliance checks with flying colours.

According to the NSW Government spokeswoman, a target of 95 per cent compliance was set as the target in the NSW Food Safety Strategy 2015–21.

“In the 2020-21 financial year, the sector recorded a compliance rate of 97 per cent, consistent with the previous two years of 97 per cent and 96 per cent respectively,” the spokeswoman said.

The full list of breaches in north west Sydney is below.

Ku-Ring-Gai

Pizza Hut

766 Pacific Highway, Gordon

Date handed breach notices: October 8, 2021

Ku-ring-gai Council served Pizza Hut in Gordon with $1760 in fines for two offences following an inspection of the Pacific Hwy restaurant on October 6.

The breaches including failing to have adequate storage facilities for products that are likely to be the source of contamination of food

It also failed to ensure food contact surfaces of equipment were kept in a clean and sanitary condition.

The Pizza Hut in Gordon received over $1700 in fines for food safety reasons.

Hornsby Shire

Lok Lok Dumpling Bar

236 Pacific Highway, Hornsby

Data handed breach notices: May 11, 2021

Lok Lok Dumpling Bar was the worst offender in Hornsby, racking up two fines worth $1760 in 2021.

It was first fined $880 for failing to place potentially hazardous food under temperature control, despite having been issued previous warnings.

It also copped a second $880 fine for failing to ensure employees who were handling or supervising the preparation of food had knowledge of food safety and hygiene matters.

Gong Cha

236 Pacific Highway, Hornsby

Date handed breach notice: March 12, 2021

Despite having received previous warnings, Gong Cha copped an $880 fine for failing to ensure its employees had knowledge of food safety and food hygiene.

Oki Oki

12 Coronation Street, Hornsby

Date handed breach notice: June 17, 2021

Oki Oki were fined $880 for failing to ensure the surfaces of equipment it used for food preparation were clean and sanitary.

Oki Oki, a Japanese restaurant in Hornsby, was fined for breaching food safety rules.

Hawkesbury

Colo Heights Service Station Restaurant

3356 Putty Road, Colo Heights

Data handed breach notices: June 16, 2021

The Colo Heights Service Station and Restaurant was the worst offender in Hawkesbury Council area.

It handed two separate penalty notices in June of last year. The first was an $880 fine for failing to eradicate and prevent pests, despite being previously warned about this issue.

The second was another $880 fine — this time for failing to ensure all equipment met the required standard of cleanliness.

IGA South Windsor

509-511 George St, South Windsor

Date handed breach notice: July 1, 2021

This IGA was fined a whopping $1320 for selling unsuitable food.

Unsuitable food is either rotten, spoiled or contains chemical materials (contaminants). According to the Food Safety Act, it can also refer to meat products which are diseased.

The Hills Shire

Chatkazz

24-32 Lexington Drive, Bella Vista

Date handed breach notices: December 23, 2021

Chatkazz was the only offender from The Hills Shire, having received two $880 fines in late 2021.

The first breach was for failing to cook potentially hazardous food in accordance with the Foods Standards Code.

It also received a fine for failing to ensure its food was protected from the likelihood of contamination.

Chatkazz Indian Street Food. Picture: Jenifer Jagielski.

Number of food penalty notices in every Sydney LGA