Gino’s restaurant at Hamilton fined under Food Act over cockroach infestation

A roach problem has led to a huge fine for a popular Italian restaurant in an affluent Brisbane suburb after a customer’s find in a takeaway pizza led food safety inspectors to uncover a nasty infestation. SEE THE PHOTOS

Gino's Italian restaurant at Hamilton was fined over a cockroach infestation.

A cockroach in a pizza led to a popular Italian restaurant in an up-market part of Brisbane being inspected by council officers, a court has heard.

Brisbane Magistrates Court heard a customer grabbed a pizza from Gino’s Restaurant in April 2022 only to find it contained a cockroach, prompting a complaint to the Brisbane City Council.

Council prosecutor Chelsie Hirth said a roach problem was identified at the Hamilton restaurant during the first inspection the following day.

This was quickly rectified, however a few weeks later another customer complained about a cockroach in a menu and a second inspection found the problem had resurfaced, the court heard.

A live cockroach in the food preparation area.

Ms Hirth said charges were laid in relation to uncleanliness, failing to maintain the restaurant in a good state of repair and failing to take all practical measures to ensure that pests did not enter and harbour on the premises.

Ms Hirth said this resulted in a cockroach problem, “as indicated by the presence of live and dead cockroaches and cockroach egg casings” at the venue.

“The presence of a cockroach egg sack indicates that the issue has been an issue for long enough that the cockroaches had entered into a breeding cycle,” she said.

Ms Hirth said the offending was aggravated by the re-emergence of cockroaches a few weeks after the first offence date.

A dead cockroach found during a food safety inspection.

“While the defendants clearly got the premises up to standard, they quickly let those standards drop with the presence of cockroaches again being detected at the premises,” she said.

Gino’s Italian Restaurant Pty Ltd and its two directors, Edward and Sayed Doueihi, entered written pleas of guilty to eight counts each of contravening condition of licence under the Food Act.

The business also pleaded guilty to eight counts of failing to comply with a requirement imposed by the Food Standards Code while the Doueihis each pleaded guilty to eight counts of failing to ensure co-operation complies with the Food Act. All charges related to the same offending.

Unidentifiable matter inside an oven at the restaurant.

They did not appear in court on Thursday and did not provide any other material for Magistrate Belinda Merrin to rely on.

Ms Merrin said the defendants had entered very early pleas of guilty and had no previous convictions.

She said the mobility of cockroaches “increased the risk of there been contamination of food” at the restaurant.

“Consumers are entitled to expect that the food they purchase is prepared properly and in a safe environment,” she said.

The company was fined $18,000 and each of the directors were fined $1500. No convictions were recorded.

Originally published as Gino’s restaurant at Hamilton fined under Food Act over cockroach infestation