A Lyneham Chinese restaurant has been fined $12,000 for food safety breaches dating to 2010 after inspectors found the kitchen was dirty and the barbecue duck barrel was potentially flaking into the food.
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The ACT Magistrates Court heard the China Tea Club was shut down for six days in November 2010 but had since had a $20,000 kitchen revamp with new equipment and professional cleaning.
Caylus Holdings, the company which owns the restaurant, pleaded guilty to four charges of unsafe food handling and failing to comply with territory food safety regulations.
According to documents tendered in court, a health inspector attended the restaurant on November 24, 2010, after a complaint from a member of the public.
He found insanitary conditions such as food left uncovered in unsuitable containers, dirty towels in the hand washing area, and thick dirt underneath the stove.
The court heard the barbecue duck barrel had not been cleaned for over a year and was flaking, raising the risk of contaminating any food inside.
Food was also stored uncovered on rusty and dirty shelves.
Defence lawyer James Sabharwal said that the China Tea Club had made a ''significant investment'' to improve operations and up to 70 per cent of the kitchen had been renovated in the intervening two years.
He said financial records showed the restaurant had operated at a modest loss.
Mr Sabharwal said the director of the company had made full and frank admissions in an interview with public health inspectors and had worked to clean up the kitchen which had passed inspections ever since. ''It is not likely that the defendant company will be an offender in this respect again,'' he said.
Prosecutor Michael Clark agreed that specific deterrence was not a major factor for the China Tea Club.
But he said food safety cases were reported in the press and individuals and companies who ran food businesses would be deterred from allowing their kitchens to deteriorate as a result.
Magistrate David Mossop said parts of the restaurant kitchen had not been cleaned for over a year and there was a failure to comply with regulations governing hand washing and sanitation.
He took into account the fact that the owner of the business had made full admissions and the health inspection had been a wakeup call.
Mr Mossop said it was appropriate to issue a fine which provided an economic incentive for operators to ensure their premises were compliant with food laws.
He fined Caylus Holdings a total of $12,000 and recorded convictions on all four charges.
