Dumbass put own address on letter demanding $12.7 million from Brisbane food manufacturer

Posted on September 12, 2016 by Douglas Powell

A Brisbane man tried to extort $12.7 million from a food manufacturer using a video of rats, cockroaches and sharp utensils in or near food, a court has heard.

Daniel Rupert Sridharan is standing trial in the District Court accused of telling the company that unless he was paid $12.7 million he would release footage to showing cockroaches, “a rat in a tub” and “a sharp utensil found (in product)”.

In her opening address to the jury Crown Prosecutor Sarah Farnden said Sridharan wrote a letter to the company — whose name has been suppressed by the court — saying that “(the company) can hide the truth from auditors and customers but can never hide the truth from its own employees.”

“He claims the footage will be sent to (various lobby groups),” Ms Farnden told the jury.

Ms Farnden said Sridharan tried to extort the company in a six-page letter he sent to them on March 16 last year.

The letter allegedly demanded the cash payment in return for not leaking video footage to the authorities and major supermarkets including footage of a rat in the manufacturing facility.

“It was sent by registered post, and had the defendants’ name and address clearly marked as the sender on the envelope,” Ms Farnden said.

Fine dining in Brisbane

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Douglas Powell

A restaurant operator who was caught storing dodgy ice-cream balls and tenderising chicken at an ‘alarming’ temperature has been ordered to pay a hefty fine.

Minh Tri Nguyen, who operates the restaurant West End Garden, was last week fined $37,500 in the Brisbane Magistrates Court after he pleaded guilty to a string of food safety violations.

Brisbane City Council authorities inspected the restaurant after five diners suffered food poisoning in January 2015.

Council prosecutor Mark Thomas had previously told the court that authorities had found ice cream balls, a tea towel and dish cloth contaminated with salmonella.

He also said chicken and beef had been found tenderising in a sink at a dangerous temperature.

25 students sickened at Brisbane area school after injesting ‘mystical fire’ which they believed was popping candy

Posted on August 1, 2016 by Douglas Powell

About 25 students at a school north of Brisbane became sick eating a substance they believed were lollies.

Paramedics were called to Deception Bay State School, north of Brisbane, about 2.20pm today after students ate the substance.

Queensland ambulance reported that up to 25 children were being treated at the school.

Emergency services were called to the school in the Moreton Bay region after students complained of nausea and ‘burning in their throat.’

Queensland Ambulance later confirmed the Year 4 students ingested Mystical Fire, a novelty substance available from camping stores that is thrown on fire to create multi-coloured flames which the children may have believed was popping candy.

A parent told The Courier-Mail their 10-year-old child was offered the chemicals, described as looking like “white popping candy,” outside of class.

At least it was cooked: Australian bakery admits selling cockroach in loaf

Posted on July 27, 2016 by Douglas Powell

A Bakers Delight store in Brisbane has indicated that it will plead guilty to selling a loaf of bread with a cockroach in it, and six other breaches of the food laws.

Bakers Delight in Toombul shopping centre was charged with selling the loaf of omega 3 wholemeal with chia on March 7 last year.

Brisbane City Council officers laid the charges after customer Judith Davis allegedly found the roach in her loaf which was baked in-store.

Last week, Brisbane Magistrate’s Court was told the franchising company Bakers Delight Holdings intended to enter a plea of guilty when the case returned to court on October 20.

Health inspector Stephen Thomson alleges in his complaint filed in court that the store had an infestation of cockroaches in March 2015 and the owners “failed to prevent and remove” them.

Brisbane Chinese restaurant fined after customer finds piece of metal scourer in fried rice

Posted on June 27, 2016 by Douglas Powell

A Brisbane Chinese restaurant that served fried rice containing a piece of a metal scourer that lodged in the throat of a female customer has been fined $23,000.

Bamboo Basket restaurant at Portside, in Hamilton, also was twice found to have live cockroaches by Brisbane City Council officers last year.

Maxine Dosen coughed up the piece of metal from the scourer and was rushed to a hospital emergency to check that she had not swallowed more.

Brisbane magistrate Judith Daley said while it was not known how the piece of metal got into the food, a chef was in the habit of using the scourer to clean a wok during cooking.

Ms Daley said there would have been a real risk that part of the scourer could fall off.

She said after the incident the chef continued to use the metal scourer, despite staff being told not to do so.

“It all happened so quickly,’’ Ms Dosen told The Courier-Mail last year.

“I put this fried rice in my mouth and suddenly felt something sharp, like a prawn shell, go down my throat.

“I tried to bring it back up my throat and pulled this long, curly thing out of my mouth.’’

Felix Ip, a director of family-owned business Lafeco, which owns Bamboo Basket, pleaded guilty to five Brisbane City Council charges.

Apart from a charge of selling unsafe food, there also were charges relating to grime, failing to take precautions to prevent pests and having live cockroaches in the restaurant.

Vomit cruise: Australian couple find barf on Pacific Dawn cruise ship

Posted on June 20, 2016 by Douglas Powell

An Australian couple were left extremely disappointed after their cruise ship holiday turned into a nightmare on the sea.

John Forenca and Jennifer Miles had booked to spend a week on the P&O cruise ship Pacific Dawn.

But, after spending hundreds of dollars on the cruise, the couple were met with a string of problems including vomit in the elevator, broken facilities and mould in their bedroom.

“One of the lifts you couldn’t use because the doors closed on you — that didn’t seem very safe,” Forenca told the Geelong Advertiser.

“There was an outdoor TV screen so you could watch movies after dinner but that wasn’t working either.”

Forenca also said that his partner found vomit in the elevator which was not cleaned up after she reported it.

“The last three or four days people got gastro … three toilets broke down as well,” he told the newspaper.

A spokesman for P&O Cruises said they were sorry to hear the couple hadn’t enjoyed their cruise but did not believe it was the “widespread sentiment”.

“As Australia’s largest cruise operator, P&O Cruises is very proud of the high standards that we maintain across our fleet and this is reflected in the positive feedback we receive from our guests. If customer service issues do arise on board they are attended to quickly.”

Pacific Dawn has capacity for 2000 passengers and departs from Brisbane.

Not the place: Norovirus outbreak in Brisbane hospital’s cardiac unit

Posted on March 23, 2016 by Douglas Powell

An outbreak of highly contagious Norovirus has been detected in the cardiac ward at the Lady Cilento Children’s Hospital.

Six heart patients have tested positive to the virus and test results are pending on two other patients.

The hospital’s executive director of medical services, Andrew Hallahan, said five planned elective surgery procedures had been rescheduled because the cardiac ward was not admitting new patients until infectious disease specialists advised it was safe to do so.

Fancy food ain’t safe food, Brisbane rock ‘n roll edition: ‘Live roaches inside the drinking straws’

Posted on March 7, 2016 by Douglas Powell

A trendy restaurant in Brisbane’s inner city which has been a magnet for rock ‘n’ roll types has admitted live cockroaches were running around its kitchen after pleading guilty to breaching food safety laws.

French-Vietnamese restaurant Libertine in The Barracks on Petrie Terrace was prosecuted in the Brisbane Magistrates Court and on February 5, admitted to eight breaches of food health laws in court that day.

The company, owned by Andrew Baturo, was fined $15,000.

Brisbane City Council’s Acting enforcement coordination manager Stephen Thomson told Magistrate Suzette Coates that he found more than a dozen live cockroaches and many more dead ones in 12 locations around the kitchen and pantry when he inspected on July 14, 2014.

He found “live cockroaches inside the drinking straws” kept under the stainless steel bench located on the right hand side of the kitchen near the door leading from the kitchen to the dining area.

Mr Thomson also found a dead cockroach inside a food preparation fridge, a live cockroach on the door steal of another fridge and a live adult cockroach on wall of the dry storage area.

Brisbane restaurant inspection: Still voluntary disclosure, still BS

Posted on January 14, 2016 by Douglas Powell

Brisbane City Council has defended its food safety credentials following criticism over its handling of breaches by the Normanby Hotel.

Brisbane sucks at food safety, I know, I live here.

Today the council marked five years of its EatSafe program which has overseen food safety standards in Brisbane, bringing 1100 businesses to reach a five star safety rating as well as handing out 1782 fines for offending businesses.

This week the council came under fire after it was revealed it took seven inspections of the popular pub before a cockroach infestation was resolved.

Lord Mayor Graham Quirk said the council had followed regular protocol.

“It’s not a case of going wrong,” Cr Quirk said.

“What we’ve done is ensure that we do follow up inspections and we work with licencees.

“Of course you can’t get into the court with a day’s notice.

“You have to make sure that you have the evidence when you go to court, we don’t want to go to court and lose.”

The Normanby Hotel, which was fined $30,000, is among 131 businesses prosecuted for food safety breaches.

Cr Quirk said it had conducted 33,000 surprise audits since 2010, with businesses measured against the 44 criteria of the EatSafe program.

Auditors look at compliance in cleanliness, food storage and handling and pest control with many following complaints from customers.

“Last year over 700 outlets received 0-2 star ratings and council worked with them through education and online training, to bring their business up to compliance standards (3 star rating),” he said.

Quick stats for 2015

– The council cancelled 15 food licences

– It issue 64 immediate suspensions to businesses in breach of food safety standards

– It issued 440 fines to businesses and pursued 28 successful prosecutions of Food Act 2006 breaches

– It raked in fines worth $622,500

Nice cash cow. But did it make food safer? Did fewer people barf?

No.

And Lord Mayor is a ridiculous title.

‘We’ve never had anything like this before’ Flying Cock Salmonella sickens 20 at hipster pub in Brisbane

Posted on December 11, 2015 by Douglas Powell

It’s an Aussie thing, eh. Just be cool, go surfing, hang 10, so what if people get sick.

A public health investigation has been launched into the outbreak of food poisoning at a popular Brisbane pub after 20 customers fell ill after eating Australia’s most loved pub grub.

Queensland Health is investigating the case and believe the Fortitude Valley pub’s chicken, which was used last Wednesday in their parmigiana dish, is the source of the issue.

A spokesman for the Flying cock told the Courier Mail they had never encountered anything like this before.
‘Without being able to directly point the finger or throw anyone under the bus while this investigation is ongoing, we are comfortable and council is comfortable we haven’t missed anything and perhaps it is a problem with the supplier.’

The spokesman said the pub’s chicken supplier were creditable, however The Flying Cock has since cut ties with them.

‘We can’t find anything internally here which indicates there hasn’t been anything happen on our end.’
The Bar’s spokesman said they had contacted all of last Wednesday’s diners to check if they were all right.

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