Double standards claim in slug saga

The boss of I Cook Foods has raised major concerns over “double standards” as a parliamentary inquiry gets under way.

The Boss of I Cook Foods Ian Cook has maintained his company was the victim of a conspiracy. Picture: Alex Coppel

The founder of I Cook Foods says no closure was made against a company investigated over the death of an elderly man who had listeriosis – a stark contrast to the treatment of his catering firm.

Ian Cook will tell a parliamentary inquiry starting Wednesday one of the company’s meals retrieved from a freezer at the man’s home last month was found to contain listeria. Traces of listeria were later found in the kitchen of the provider.

Mr Cook said the decision to let that firm stay open was at odds with the treatment of his company by authorities in 2019 when 41 people were thrown out of work.

The parliamentary inquiry into the saga has been reopened after a series of revelations which have raised serious questions about the Department of Health and Human Services shutdown order on I Cook.

Mr Cook said he did not think the company which came under investigation over last month’s death should have been closed.

But he said the case against it was stronger than what led to the shutting of I Cook by chief health officer Brett Sutton, who remarked at the time that thousands of lives could have been lost.

“What they did (last month) is the way it’s supposed to be done. But where’s the abundance of caution this time? It’s a double standard,” he said. “It raises very serious questions about what the motives were (in 2019).”

Mr Cook said in I Cook’s case, a council report had cleared it of supplying a sandwich to an elderly woman at Knox Private Hospital hours before the closure order was executed.

Mr Cook, who was also hit with 96 later-abandoned charges, has long maintained his company was the victim of a conspiracy. He says a slug found in a kitchen at his Dandenong South factory was planted during an inspection by a Greater Dandenong environmental health officer.

The company also wants answers on why I Cook was closed when the report of Knox Council environmental health officer Ray Christy all but cleared it of involvement.

Mr Christy will give evidence on Wednesday. Also to appear is former health minister Jenny Mikakos, who was in the role in 2019.

The Herald Sun has been told there was not a genomic match between the sample taken from the man and what was in his fridge.

But Mr Cook said even if this was accepted, there were no genomic matches when I Cook was closed and the fact remained the deceased man had a listeria-contaminated meal in his freezer from a company which was not hit with a closure order.

A DHHS spokesman said it could not comment.

“The Department is cooperating fully with the reopened Parliamentary inquiry process and as this inquiry has not yet resumed, it would be inappropriate to comment further.”

Police have reopened their investigation into the closure.