No dairy claim lands Pascoe Vale gelati kings in court
Two hospitality veterans behind a Pascoe Vale gelati store have fronted court after falsely labelling two of their sorbets as dairy free.
Law & Order
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Two Melbourne gelati kings from a Willy Wonka-inspired gelataria have promised to be of good behaviour for a year following un-cone-stitutional conduct.
The Herald Sun had the inside scoop, revealing in April how Augustus Gloop’s directors Joe Molinaro and Paul Vernuccio had been charged for falsely labelling their mango and watermelon sorbets as dairy-free when they were not.
The pair faced the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court today where they admitted a meltdown in its Pascoe Vale store’s processes relating to labelling and cross-contamination by staff using the same scoopers in slop slinks to serve dairy and non-dairy sorbets.
Magistrate Angela Soldani told the pair they were fortunate no one was seriously ill or died from an allergy.
“This is a very important omission on your behalf, gentlemen,” Ms Soldani said.
“Ultimately you are responsible for your employees behaviour.”
She did not convict the pair, but instead placed them on an undertaking to be of good behaviour for 12 months.
Molinaro, 56, and Vernuccio, 36, were also ordered to each make a $1000 donation to the Make A Wish Foundation.
Moreland City Council had charged the directors after inspectors visited the Pascoe St business on February 14 last year following a customer complaint and found traces of dairy in the two fruit-flavoured sorbets and in its slop sinks.
The pair’s barrister John Kelly, SC, had told Ms Soldani it was an innocent mistake in which Molinaro and Vernuccio deeply regretted.
“It would appear there has been a cross-contamination as opposed to a deliberate use of dairy,” Mr Kelly said, saying the levels of dairy found were “extremely small”.
The court heard the mango sorbet had 0.0000004kg per kg of dairy, while the watermelon sorbet had 0.0006kg. The sink water sample had 0.0003kg per kg.
Both his clients, Mr Kelly said, were “veterans of the hospitality industry” with “impeccable records”.
They “promptly, immediately and comprehensively” fixed the issues raised by the council, he said.
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Staff have been retrained, further signage warning of traces of dairy are on display, and slop sinks are now colour-coated, with the dairy free one having a separate water filtration system.
“It’s now 17 months since (the council’s) attendance on February 14 and there’s nothing to indicate a slacking of standards,” Mr Kelly said.
Molinaro and Vernuccio each pleaded guilty to two breaches of the Food Act: labelling food in a way that falsely described the food and failing to take all necessary steps to prevent food being contaminated.
In a joint statement, the pair said: “We are pleased to close the door on this one-off situation that regrettably was made at store level.”