Council gets tough with business proprietors who flout the Food Act: Issued 5 March 2012
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EmailMEDIA RELEASE: 5 March 2012
The City of Casey is getting tough with the proprietors of local food businesses who fail to meet the requirements of the State Government’s Food Act 1984.
City of Casey Mayor Cr Sam Aziz said as a last resort Council has started issuing infringement notices to proprietors of businesses in Casey who repeatedly failed to renew their business registration on time.
‘This follows on from an education campaign undertaken by Council’s Environmental Health Officers in recent years to make business proprietors aware of their responsibility to renew their business registration annually before 31 December’, said Cr Aziz.
‘Despite our efforts there are still proprietors of businesses within Casey who repeatedly fail to renew their registration on time and, are therefore operating as unregistered businesses.
‘As a result, the City of Casey has now begun issuing infringement notices on these premises as an enforcement option’.
City of Casey Manager Community Safety Caroline Bell said 20 infringement notices had been issued to local businesses for failing to renew either their Food Act or Public Health and Wellbeing Act registrations by 31 December 2011.
Ms Bell said ‘71 official warnings had also been issued to premises where this was their first offence’.
‘Penalties for infringements range from $610.70 for an individual to $1,221.40 for a company’, said Ms Bell.
A number of new laws relating to the Food Act 1984 were introduced by the State Government in March 2011. One of these changes provided Council’s Environmental Health Officers with the power to issue infringement notices for food safety or hygiene offences including:
- Failure to store, process, display and transport food safely.
- Failure to clean and sanitise food equipment.
- Operating food premises without registration.
- Failure to keep the required Food Safety Program records on site.
The City of Casey has a successful record of prosecuting businesses who demonstrate more serious non-compliance with their Food Act responsibilities.
Cr Aziz said ‘Council will continue to work tirelessly to educate business proprietors about the importance of renewing their business registration by the due date and to enforce compliance to ensure the safety of food offered for sale in the City of Casey’.