Parliament releases report into second inquiry over I Cook Foods

An explosive report has found health officials reporting on the closure of I Cook Foods did not give crucial evidence when they were first called.

Health officials reporting on the closure of I Cook Foods did not give crucial evidence when they were first called to public hearings, a parliamentary report has found.

But the committee investigating the slug gate saga, chaired by Reason Party MP Fiona Patten, has stopped short of saying whether this information was deliberately left out.

The document also did not weigh in on claims of tampered evidence at the centre of the “slug gate” scandal, stating this was a responsibility for Victoria Police or anti-corruption bodies.

A secondary report, released by the state Opposition, has called for an external investigation into “serious allegations of impropriety”.

I Cook foods was closed by the health department after the death of a woman from Knox Private Hospital in February 2019 amid speculation she could have been infected by one of their packaged sandwiches.

A council officer inspecting the venue also alleged to have discovered a slug during a safety inspection.

But the business was later allowed to reopen and all charges dropped, prompting owner Ian Cook to lash out at the decision to shut down his business.

The Boss of iCook, Ian Cook with retired Detective Sergeant Paul Brady and retired Detective Inspector Rod Porter, with the mountain of evidence submitted to Victoria Police.. Picture: Alex Coppel.

This year, the Herald Sun revealed that Department of Health had received a report close to the time of the woman’s death indicating she had not eaten the company’s sandwiches.

A Greater Dandenong City Council whistleblower also alleged the slug may have been planted and that photo evidence was doctored to hide this.

Neither of these issues were initially raised when the parliament first probed the saga in 2020 and the revelations prompted a second inquiry earlier this year.

Ms Patten on Thursday told parliament they had heard new evidence that raised issues with the way the Department of Health investigated the listeriosis case.

The report found the department should have immediately requested swabs, testing and inspections at Knox Private Hospital after the positive listeria case was found.

Instead this was not performed and authorities may never be able to say with certainty where the disease originated from.

Health officials were also incorrect in 2020 when they asserted I Cook Foods was the sole caterer to the hospital.

The inquiry into the closure of I cook Foods was held remotely.

“The committee’s investigations found that there was no reason to believe that evidence from Department of Health officials deliberately intended to obstruct the inquiry,” Ms Patten said.

“However, their omissions of evidence that was later published in the media led to considerable confusion and instigated the reopening of this inquiry.”

Ms Patten said the inquiry could not test claims that the council evidence had been tampered.

“Victoria Police and other relevant corruption and oversight agencies are better placed to conduct investigations in allegations of this nature,” she said.

The inquiry did not criticise the health department’s decision to close I Cook Foods, stating that the hospital report had not been received until the business was already shut.

Ian Cook. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Paul Jeffers

Chief Health Officer Brett Sutton was called to give evidence to the inquiry

But Opposition health spokeswoman Georgie Crozier said she still had doubts about the evidence given to the committee.

“I think there are still many, many questions to be answered in relation to this issue,” she said.

“We were provided with selective reports from the department.”

Liberal MPs have urged for an independent investigator to look further into the scandal.

Ian Cook slammed the report and said the committee had ignored “crystal-clear crimes”, including the alteration of evidence by council officials.

Mr Cook said he could not believe Prof Sutton had been exonerated for his role in the closure.

The CHO told the first inquiry that I Cook was the sole caterer for the hospital, when it was actually one of six.

“The report was written by a bunch of lawyers. I have never been more disgusted in the democracy of Victoria than I am today,” Mr Cook said.

“It raises more questions than it answers.”

Originally published as Parliament releases report into second inquiry over I Cook Foods