Restaurant & Cafe Name & Shame Website |
In July 2010 we asked the then Minister for Health Daniel Andrews MP when would the Restaurant & Cafe Name & Shame Website (announced in July 2009) go live, but have not received a reply..
Restaurant & Cafe Name & Shame Website
Source: The Age | Mark Russell - July 19, 2009
THE veil of secrecy protecting Melbourne's restaurants and cafes caught dishing up contaminated food will be lifted next year as the State Government launches a "name and shame"food hygiene website.
The website will be similar to one in NSW that has attracted more than 2.3 million visitors since its launch a year ago.
A spokeswoman for Health Minister Daniel Andrews said the Government's proposed food amendment (regulation reform) bill 2009, which includes naming businesses convicted of offences under the Food Act on an online public register, is before Parliament's Legislative Council.
She said the bill would give local councils the power to issue on-the-spot fines for breaching food standards. Community groups holding sausage sizzles and cake stalls would have only to notify their local councils rather than deal with onerous paperwork.
The changes are expected to take effect on July 1, 2010.
-:- Melbourne City Council has in the past refused to name businesses prosecuted for breaching food hygiene laws.
-:- The latest council figures reveal five CBD eateries were prosecuted for breaching food hygiene laws in 2008-09, with one fined $20,000.
-:- In the past five years 28 outlets were prosecuted.
-:- The maximum penalty is $40,000 for individuals and $200,000 for companies.
-:- The council's 21 environmental health officers inspected 3425 eateries in 2008-09.
"The community can feel confident that the City of Melbourne takes all complaints against food premises seriously,"the council's Jennifer Kanis said.
"Melbourne is renowned throughout Australia and the world for its food and restaurants and we will ensure that we continue to meet the high standards expected by the community and required by the (Food) Act."
Ms Kanis said the council had historically not supported naming restaurants because of the possible impact on a business that had had a change of ownership or management or had met all the audit requirements.
Consumer advocate group Choice says it supported "name and shame"food hygiene websites if it helped the average diner avoid dodgy restaurants.
Spokesman Christopher Zinn said that when people ate out they assumed their food was being prepared in sanitary conditions.
He said most people would avoid eating at a place with a record of poor hygiene and food safety standards - if only they knew about it.
"People take it for granted that a restaurant is generally OK but this might not always be the case,"Mr Zinn told The Sunday Age.
"Needless to say, the name-and-shame element would be a very powerful inducement to get it right."
There are an estimated 5.4 million cases of food-borne illness in Australia every year, with most caused by contaminated food from restaurants, caterers, bakeries, takeaways and fast-food outlets.
The web site is hoped to be up and running by July 1, 2010
Source: The Age: Filthy eateries to be named, shamed
Mark Russell - July 19, 2009
JULY 2010
Is this another broken promise from the State Government? 12 months to create a web site that is already fully operational in N.S.W. The Government didnt have to reinvent the wheel, simply mirror a wheel that is already rolling.
❊ Web Links ❊
➼ Restaurant & Cafe Name & Shame Website
➼ www.theage.com.au
➼ Daniel Andrews MP - Minister for Health
➼ www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au
➼ www.health.qld.gov.au
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