Name & Shame list nearly a year old

In the last week 23 more premises were added to the NSW Food Authority’s Name and Shame list. This brings the total to 547 premises and a total of 922 fines. NSW Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said that “the site is on track to register a thousand infringements in its first year, as was predicted based on annual Food Authority statistics”.

The list was established to provide consumers with information about those food premises that had been in breach of food law, to help them decide where they want to eat or purchase from. It has received more than 1.5 million hits since it was started in July 2008.

It has been updated already to make it more user friendly and consumers can now access information through a search by trading name, suburb, postcode, date and even type of breach. “This website is extremely popular, it’s an Australian first, it’s less than 12 months old and we have already made improvements to make it more user-friendly for consumers,” Mr Macdonald advised.

“Let’s remember that the vast majority of food businesses in NSW do the right thing, and deliver exceptional fresh food to consumers,” Minister Macdonald said. This list is a way for consumers to easily identify those premises that let the side down.

The following are examples of the types of premises currently in the list;

• Hot bread bakery in Ballina fined $550 for selling a loaf of bread with a cockroach in it.
• A supermarket in Breese Parade, Forster received two fines worth $1,320 for selling barbecue chicken and a meat pie after their “use-by” dates.
• A noodle bar in Chatswood received two fines of $330 each for hygiene problems. The shop is one of a chain of Sydney stores that have collectively received ten fines in 5 premises in a year.
• A bakery on the Great Western Highway, Blaxland was fined after a cigarette butt was found in a loaf of bread, this shop was also fined in 2008 for not having hand washing facilities
• A butchery in Burwood Road, Burwood received four fines totalling $2,640 for hygiene-related offences and for selling pork mince laced with sulphur dioxide, a banned preservative that disguises the appearance of meat and could cause allergic reaction
• A sandwich bar in Century Circuit, Baulkham Hills was issued with four penalty notices totalling $1320 for offences ranging from failing to keep the premises clean to not protecting food in a cool room from contaminationThe list is updated weekly and can be found at www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/penalty-notices/