The Australian Central Territory (ACT) Health is using an ACT Supreme Court decision as a warning to the food and beverage industry.

ACT Health Protection Service director John Woollard said, “This is on the very worst end of what we see.” The health director was referring the court decision to increase the fines of an inner north Canberra restaurant that failed the food safety inspection in February 2009.

Tak Kee Roast Inn in Dickson was caught with poultry being defrosted and prepared in a carpark behind the restaurant. The health inspector alleged that the exposed meat was attracting wild birds.

The inspector report also revealed of grease, decaying food, and rubbish throughout the Chinese restaurant. Several barbequed ducks hanging off the back of a door were captured on camera and then presented as evidence in court. A rusty knife and chopping block found in the carpark seized during the inspection were also presented as evidences.

The Magistrates Court fined the restaurant $1,500 but the Director of Public Prosecutions successfully appealed against the penalty. The ACT Supreme Court has now increased the fine to $6,900.

Woolard warned that the revised decision “certainly will send a message to those few proprietors in the Canberra area who perhaps aren't doing the right thing around food safety - that it is taken seriously and if they're caught, they'll be dealt with appropriately in the courts.”