KFC has been fined for hygiene breaches at one of it’s busiest food court stores in Chermside shopping centre, located in Brisbane, QLD. A Brisbane City Council health inspector conducted a food hygiene audit at the premises on March 4, 2015. Fast food restaurant operator Collins Restaurants Management plead guilty to six breaches of food health laws in the Brisbane Magistrates court in December and were given a $45,000 fine. According to court documents, live cockroaches were found in the kitchen, including on the surface under the preparation bench and beneath the wall capping. Approximately 30-40 live cockroaches were discovered under the gravy and mash potato bain-marie. Understanding the severity of food safety risk that is posed by unhygienic food storage and preparation areas, swift action was taken by the company to rectify the issues that were found and the magistrate did not record a conviction against the company.
Health regulations provide for registered health authorities to organise for the conducting of regular and spot checks on any food handling business. Health officers have the ability to immediately close a business if they deem it to present an unacceptable level of food safety risk to the public. Alternatively, they can issue infringement notices that require a business to show that rectifications have occurred in response to the identified food and/or safety hazards.
Cockroaches can transfer bacteria