A MENU of monstrosities has led to a Gold Coast Chinese restaurant being slapped with a fine of more than $20,000 after raids by council health inspectors.
The licensee of Southport’s Top One Chinese seafood restaurant yesterday appeared in Southport Magistrates Court to plead guilty to breaches of the Food Act after Gold Coast City Council health inspectors found severe shortcomings in food standards.
At Top One Chinese restaurant, health inspectors found opened bags of peanuts containing rodent droppings, live and dead cockroaches on the floor and raw meat covered with a tablecloth. Picture: Luke Marsden Source: News Corp Australia
Inspectors visited the restaurant as it prepared for the day’s trade on December 29 and what they found would have turned anyone off their lunch.
Raw meat covered with a tablecloth, dirty containers and kitchen bowls ready for use, opened bags of peanuts containing rodent droppings and live and dead cockroaches on the floor were all catalogued by inspectors as the restaurant was slapped with a breach notice for an “unsatisfactory standard of cleanliness”.
Inspectors also noted cockroach body parts, food with no lids and crabmeat stored in uncovered and dirty containers.
Ricky Kwok Fai Wong, owner of Top One Chinese restaurant, pleaded guilty to health violations. Picture: Luke Marsden. Source: News Corp Australia
The restaurant had also been given four improvement notices over the previous five years.
Representing Top One and licensee Ricky Kwok Fai Wong, lawyer Mark Fitz-Walter said the restaurant’s managers had already taken steps to ensure there were no further breaches, including hiring a health consultant.
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Magistrate Dermot Kehoe fined the restaurant $22,500, plus costs.
“While it is not alleged anyone suffered food poisoning or some serious illness … there needs to be a deterrent against this type of behaviour,” he said.
“Food safety standards are a matter of real concern for the community.”