BUSINESSES within the Adelaide central business district fined for failing food inspections today can be named and shamed.

Adelaide City Council has fined a dozen businesses over hygiene breaches, including Next Generation Gym, several restaurants in Gouger St and Chinatown, Hungry Jack’s West Tce store and Bacchus Karaoke Bar, Grote St.

Council documents obtained by The Sunday Mail under Freedom of Information provisions show several businesses were fined at least twice over the past three years.

A State Ombudsman test case in 2009 ruled that local authorities could no longer keep secret the identities of restaurants fined for breaking health rules.

The Mongkok, BBQ City Restaurants and Café Kowloon, all located in Gouger St, had multiple fines of between $500 and $2500.

Fines were issued for poor hygiene, storage or cleanliness, having animals or pests present and for failing to comply with previous warnings under the Food Standards Code. Together, the fines totalled $15,000.

No business was prosecuted in the past four years but more were fined for breaching food laws, Orders issued to improve standards had almost tripled in three years.

About 1500 food safety inspections occurred annually but less than one per cent resulted in fines.

Authorities said they had a zero tolerance on poor hygiene standards but negotiating with the 1000-plus city food outlets also often achieved a high level of public safety.

The council’s city safety and customer services program manager, Sean McNamara, said repeat offenders would face increased scrutiny.

“Clearly, food safety is absolutely critical because if you get that wrong, people can get sick,” he said.

“It is quite concerning when we have a business with multiple (fines) but they don’t always relate to food-handling practices. For example, one could be the result of the condition of the building and another could be to do with waste disposal.’’

Council has wideranging powers to enforce food safety standards, including an order that effectively shuts down offenders.

“We do also get people ringing up to complain about certain businesses, which is normally about 200 complaints a year, and we are compelled to investigate,” he said.

A spokesman for Next Generation, which is due to embark on a rebranding from Tuesday, declined to comment.

Other businesses named by the council either did not return calls or management was unavailable for comment.

Source: Adelaide City Council

Graphic: @GregBarila