Brighton’s Wild Holly Cakes fined for rat, moth and bug infestation

RODENT droppings, moths, flies and traces of bugs and slugs are not the ingredients you want in a cake. But that’s what horrified health inspectors discovered inside a Brighton cake shop.

Filth observed by health inspectors at Wild Holly bakery included rodent droppings.

A MAGISTRATE has roasted the owner of a pest-infested Brighton bakery after rat droppings, moths, flies and traces of bugs and slugs were found in a random check by council health inspectors.

Brett Douglas O’Callaghan, who ran iconic Wild Holly Cakes on Bay St until it closed on June 30, pleaded guilty to nine food-related charges at Moorabbin Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Earlier this year O’Callaghan did a series of media interviews lamenting the loss of local bakeries due to pressure from supermarket stores, but he failed to mention Wild Holly was also under council investigation.

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The court heard the family-run bakery, which dates back to 1937, had previously never had a problem with authorities.

That was until a Bayside Council food inspector paid them a visit on April 5 this year.

He found rodent droppings on the floor and shelves, vinegar flies, bug and slug trails, moths and their larvae, and a pungent odour permeating the premises.

Brett O’Callaghan from Wild Holly Cakes shortly before the business closed earlier this year.

There was also general untidiness, uncleanliness, flour dust, mould and poor lighting, as well as a lack of food safety certificates.

Inspectors seized 110kg of potentially contaminated food including chocolate, flour and cake mix.

The next day they issued O’Callaghan with more than 100 directions to comply, but they didn’t shut the bakery down, instead giving him time to fix the problems,

Subsequent visits on April 23 and April 30 revealed he had started to clean up the place, but there were still ongoing problems.

O’Callaghan then threw in the towel, emailing the council on June 13 to tell them he was closing the doors on June 30.

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In court his defence lawyer said the business had suffered in the last few years due to a Coles bakery opening nearby, although O’Callaghan accepted a number of things should have been rectified.

He said since they closed the 57-year-old had worked as a courier, but wanted to set up an online catering company to continue the family baking tradition.

Moorabbin Magistrate Charles Tan said the offending was serious and “there were shortcomings in relation to cleanliness”.

“It is not about waiting until something will happen, not about waiting until someone gets sick,” Mr Tan said.

O’Callaghan was convicted and fined $18,000, and must pay the council’s legal costs of $6000.

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