Council report that could have saved iCook Foods from serious charges

The iCook Foods boss claims he should have been given a report that effectively cleared his business and could have saved him from serious charges.

iCook Foods boss Ian Cook. Picture: Alex Coppel

The founder of iCook Foods has disputed a council’s claims it could not legally release under a report which could have saved him from serious charges.

Ian Cook said a report from one of its environmental health officers, which effectively cleared his company of blame for the 2019 listeria-related death of an elderly woman at Knox Private Hospital, should have been given to him under freedom of information by the Knox council.

Authorities ordered the closure of iCook after the death, despite the crucial report finding the woman had not eaten an iCook sandwich.

The council has stated that material obtained under the Food Act could not be released under FOI but was provided in response to a subpoena.

But Mr Cook said the Crimes Act – under which he was charged – trumped the Food Act and he should have been given the report so he could defend himself and his business on 96 charges.

Those matters carried potential fines running into the millions of dollars and the risk of a prison term.

In a letter to Knox councillors, Mr Cook said officer Ray Christy’s report should have been made available to him when he was charged in 2019.

Mr Cook said he had been told, correctly, by Mr Christy that he could not hand it over but that he should go via FOI.

“What the council is saying is a red herring,” he said.

But Knox acting chief executive Ian Bell said Mr Cook’s lawyers used the wrong avenue.

“Why they did not subpoena the documents in 2019 when they were advised by Council that we had documents is a question for Mr Cook and his lawyers,” Mr Bell said.

“Mr Cook has made a number of unfounded assertions in this matter, including that the Crimes Act takes primacy over the Food Act or the FOI Act. It is a matter for Mr Cook to identify the legislation that he relies on in making this statement.”

But former Victoria Police detectives, Paul Brady and Rod Porter, who have been investigating the matter on the behalf of iCook, said the release should have been made.

The council recently passed a motion put by Cr Darren Pearce, which was headed Setting the Record Straight, that said the council refuted the claim it suppressed any information.

But Cr Pearce, who is an ex-Knox mayor, later became the only councillor to vote against it.

“The reason I wanted to withdraw was because further due diligence needed to be done into the issue of our involvement in the iCook issue,” he said.

A parliamentary inquiry into the iCook saga has been reopened after a series of revelations in the Herald Sun this year.

It is expected to resume sitting this month.

Allegations that a garden slug was planted at the company’s Dandenong South factory by an official from another local council have been central to the case.

Originally published as Council report that could have saved iCook Foods from serious charges