Luwei Chatswood: Shock photos reveal restaurant’s food hygiene breaches

An inspection of a Chinese restaurant uncovered a string of breaches, including poultry displayed outside of temperature control. The owner says the venue is now meeting compliance standards. See the photos:

The owner of a popular north shore restaurant says the venue is now meeting food compliance standards after an inspection uncovered a string of breaches including poultry displayed outside temperature control.

Luwei Chatswood on Victoria Ave was issued three infringement notices totalling $2640 on December 17 after compliance officers from Willoughby Council inspected the business.

The food safety breaches, published on the NSW Food Authority website last week, included failing to display potentially hazardous food under temperature control, and failing to take all necessary steps to prevent the likelihood of contamination when processing food.

A photo of poultry at the venue thawing in unsuitable food preparation areas.

Poultry was also seen displayed at ambient temperatures

It was also fined for failing to ensure food was kept under temperature control when processing food that was not undergoing a pathogen control step.

The restaurant – which specialises in Chinese cuisine – was fined $860 for each offence and had received previous warnings for each of the food safety breaches during past council inspections.

The council said the business has since rectified issues relating to temperature control and implemented an alternative method of compliance in some cases.

Photos taken during the December inspection showed poultry was displayed at ambient temperatures and other poultry was seen thawing in unsuitable food preparation areas.

A council spokeswoman said processing food in an unsuitable area of the premises exposed the food to potential contamination.

The venue specialises in Chinese cuisine.

“When processing food, the time food remains at temperatures that permit the growth of infectious or toxigenic microorganisms must be minimised,” the spokeswoman said.

The inspection also found exposed pipes within the venue, and the walls and ceiling were not smooth and impervious.

Restaurant owner Alex Chen said the venue had implemented measures to meet compliance standards, including upgrading fridges to ensure food is kept within temperature control.

“The food that was stored in the bottom of the fridge in a tray was always good but the top bit was out of temperature so we’ve added more airconditioning and it now passes the council inspection,” he said.

“We also don’t use the area outside the cool room for any defrosting – everything is inside the cool room which is under five degrees.”

Mr Chen said he was committed to ensuring the restaurant maintains compliance.

“We’re quite new to Chatswood – we’ve been here one year and I have no experience doing takeaway food so some of the things I didn’t understand,” he said.

“Now council tells me what to do and the proper way to do the business – it’s a lot for me to learn but I’m always happy to comply.

“People can feel confident we serve good food to the public.”

The fines come as recent figures showed Chatswood had the state’s highest number of venues fined for food safety breaches in 2021 with 14 infringements issued.

Willoughby Council partly attributed the large number of fines in the suburb to high inspection rates by council staff.

“Council has consistently maintained a strong commitment to protecting the health and safety of consumers of food purchased at registered food businesses in the busy Chatswood CBD and other suburban locations,” the council said.

“Council uses a combination of education and enforcement to encourage compliance with the minimum standards prescribed by the Food Standards Code.”