Name and shame set for the menu

By Shaun Inguanzo
RESTAURANTS or food retailers fined by local councils could one day be placed on a ‘name and shame’ list.
The revelation emerged at Monday night’s Greater Dandenong council meeting after the council refused to renew food permits for six businesses in the city due to poor food safety.
The council would not name the six businesses to the public and instead provided a list of names to councillors in a confidential report at Monday night’s council meeting.
An officer’s report says the six businesses failed to meet the standards set by the council’s food safety program, which requires food businesses to develop their own food safety program and have a food safety supervisor with the view of ensuring food handling is hygienic. The report states that a business that fails to meet the standards can not be prosecuted and that the only power available to the council is to revoke or renew the business’s permit.
Noble Park North Ward councillor Maria Sampey asked if there was a similar system in Victoria to that of certain states in the United States of America which have a ‘name and shame’ list for businesses that are found to not be handling food safely. City of Greater Dandenong development services director Mal Baker said the State Government was considering a similar system but nothing existed as yet.
“I am of the understanding that some reviews they have been undertaking could lead to a name and shame system in the future…but not at the moment.”