A Sunshine Coast venue, which serves seafood, carvery, salads and Asian, has been labelled one of the worst cases of poor food hygiene.
Centrepoint Buffet’s owner Jin Xi Jerry Li was fined $17,000 in Caloundra Magistrates Court yesterday after pleading guilty to nine charges for unhygienic practices and filthy premises.
The court heard the well-known kitchen was crawling with cockroaches that had access to food. Fixtures and equipment like stoves were soiled by food residue and waste, while the floors, walls and ceiling were layered in “significant dirt”.
The soap dispenser, which is a legal requirement for use by kitchen staff, had no soap.
“But when you pressed it, cockroaches came out of it,” the council’s solicitor Michael Heiner said.
Defence lawyer Matthew Tutt said his client had never been prosecuted in his 28 years in the industry.