The owner of a popular Deakin yum cha restaurant has been fined nearly $50,000 after a 2010 health inspection found the kitchen was filthy, food was improperly stored and there were insects stuck to the custard tarts.
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But the ACT Magistrates Court heard the XY Dumpling House had since cleaned up its act and now passed health inspections without complaint.
Company director Rosemary Teng wept as the $49,050 fine, believed to be one of the biggest in recent years, was handed down.
XY Hospitality, the company which owned the restaurant, had pleaded guilty to four charges of breaching food safety regulations and was shut down by authorities for two weeks in 2010.
The court heard health authorities issued the restaurant with an improvement notice in April 2010, ordering it to clean out the kitchen and equipment, start checking the temperature of food and properly store some food items.
But none of the food safety issues had been fixed when an inspector returned in June and the restaurant was shut down temporarily.
The dumpling house then failed three subsequent inspections in the same month.
According to a statement of facts and photographs tendered in court, the inspector found flying insects stuck on custard tarts, bowls of octopus sitting out unrefrigerated and a build-up of grease, dirt and food waste on equipment and surfaces.
A washing machine for drinking glasses was caked in dirt, food was improperly stored in milk cartons and ice cream tubs and items in the refrigerator were not dated.
Hot food that was ready to be served was also kept in a dirty warming machine.
Authorities also received a complaint from a person who believed they had become ill after eating at the restaurant but the court noted the claim was not substantiated.
Mrs Teng's lawyer told the court his client had worked in the restaurant business for 17 years without any problems and regarded the offences as serious.
He said Mrs Teng's partner had been diagnosed with liver cancer in 2009 and she had hired a manager to run the restaurant while she focused on caring for her partner and supporting him through treatment.
The court heard the manager failed to pass on the improvement notice from authorities and the matter only came to Mrs Teng's attention when the restaurant was shut down for two weeks with the loss of $16,000 in revenue.
The kitchen had been comprehensively cleaned in the intervening two years and had passed all its inspections since without complaint.
The prosecution said photos of the unclean kitchen provided strong visual evidence of the restaurant staff's failure to adhere to food safety regulations and the people running restaurants had a heavy obligation to keep their customers safe.
Chief Magistrate Lorraine Walker said it was important for corporations to be aware that there would be punishment if they breached territory laws.
She imposed convictions on XY Hospitality on all four counts.
The court heard the fines were likely to result in the liquidation of the business.
