Filthy restaurants operating for years before prosecution
Many great Melbourne restaurants are facing uncertain times, but our investigation has found there are many grubby eateries that should stay shut unless they clean up their act. See the filthy hot spots.
Leader
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Some grubby restaurants have been given warnings for more than three years before being hauled in front of a court, a Sunday Herald Sun and Leader investigation has revealed.
Councils said prosecution was a “drastic” measure only for businesses that posed an immediate risk to public health.
The news comes as a food safety expert warned there was a critical shortage of environmental health officers (EHOs) to inspect eateries.
A survey of 32 metropolitan councils has uncovered the hot spots for grubby restaurants in 2018 and 2019.
During that time 49 food businesses were prosecuted, 39 were shut down and at least 6700 food safety breaches were recorded.
The City of Melbourne dished out the most fines, with a total of $388,000 issued by Melbourne Magistrates’ Court.
The council, which has almost 4000 registered food businesses and 31 full-time inspectors, prosecuted 21 and shut down 18 eateries during that time.
The owners of Paesano, in Wantirna South, were slapped with $50,000 in fines after pleading guilty to 12 charges including failures to eradicate pest and protect food from likely contamination.
The Knox Italian restaurant was shut down in May last year and the court orders made in November.
Knox Council city development director Matt Kelleher said council officers had worked with the owners for more than three years to address food safety breaches, issuing “numerous and repeated” orders.
“Prosecution is a drastic outcome initiated only as a consequence of repeated failure to comply with food safety directions,” Mr Kelleher said.
He said there were no government rules about how many chances or breaches should be found before serious enforcement action was taken.
Over on the Mornington Peninsula, inspectors found 1193 breaches, issuing 40 fines over the two years.
The owner of one rat dropping-infested, mouldy, insect-laden Conroy’s Bakehouse – which has since closed – was hit with an $8000 fine over nearly 60 food safety breaches in September.
In Boroondara inspectors uncovered 1110 noncompliance issues and doled out 40 fines.
But the council’s development director Carolyn McLean said under Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) guidelines some breaches were more “technical” than failures that could significantly affect public health.
“In these cases, the DHHS guidelines encourage councils to focus on educating business owners to achieve compliance rather than pursue prosecution,” she said.
Whittlesea acting director of community services Belgin Belsim said the council – which uncovered 550 food safety breaches – worked with non-compliant businesses to educate them about any required changes.
“We find this approach to be effective in eliminating the need for further prosecution or for business to be shut down,” she said.
Even if a restaurant is convicted it could take months before it appears on the DHHS’s public register.
A Department spokesman said there could be a delay in listing convictions because they had to wait for information to come through the courts and for any appeal to the conviction – which could take a month.
Swinburne University environmental health expert Louise Dunn said there was a current shortage of EHOs in Victoria, and the coronavirus would have an impact on how they were deployed.
Ms Dunn said, as a general rule, councils preferred to take an educational rather than punitive approach to food breaches, which could be costly to councils and the businesses involved.
But she added the publication of prosecutions “could act as a deterrent to others”.
*Maribyrnong and Maroondah councils did not respond to questions before deadline
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