KEY POINTS:
Food outlets are facing tougher measures from the Manukau City Council which is clamping down on lax food hygiene practices.
Under a new council regime, owners of food premises that receive an E grade will be prosecuted and their shops automatically shut down until the problems are fixed.
The announcement comes after 22 food outlets, made up mainly of fast-food places in Otara and Papatoetoe, received E grades this year when council officials found some kitchens teeming with cockroaches, and others with mouse and rat-droppings on their floors.
Manukau City Council environmental health team leader, Ian Milnes, said the E-graded premises represented just 1.7 per cent of the 1282 food outlets in the city.
This was a marked improvement on the 19 per cent figure seven years ago but the council was "absolutely sick of it".
Businesses that meet food hygiene regulations are graded A or B. Those that don't get a D or E, which is given for the presence of rats, mice and cockroaches or an unacceptable build-up of dirt and grime.
"We have tried to educate, we have cajoled, threatened and given every opportunity for these people to change their attitude with what they're doing and yet we still prosecute," said Mr Milnes.
Other alarming practices the council had seen included rotten food in fridges next to food to be served to customers and one restaurant washing its dishes with a fire hose on its back doorstep.
"We are always astounded by the lack of apparent knowledge or care that have gone into these places, it's not rocket science but you'd really be surprised," said Mr Milnes.
He said the council's minimum fine was $200 but those being prosecuted are often in breach on several counts so costs could be much larger.
The Auckland Regional Public Health Service's medical officer, Dr Greg Simmons, applauded the council's hardline approach despite food-borne illnesses being rarely reported.
"Ultimately if councils are proactive in promoting food safety in the food establishments they register then almost certainly there will be a reduction at least in food-related illnesses," he said.
Dr Simmons said people now actively sought a premises' hygiene rating before buying from there.
"Anecdotally people are often saying 'I've gone to this place and there's no certificate on show' but some are now looking at the websites before going to restaurants and I think it will become more and more popular."
Affected food outlets the Herald visited in Manukau yesterday said they were working hard with the council to upgrade their rankings.
Rubel Mamum, who works in an Otara Mall superette, said the store had received an E grade last month for "an untidy stockroom".
He later admitted to issues, "but not major problems", with rodents, although the store, which had rotting bananas on a front shelf, has a pest control certificate displayed.
"At the end of the day the customers who come in here don't look at the hygiene rating, they look at the expiry date on the back of goods," he said.
Assistant manager of the Lucky Star Chinese Restaurant in Papatoetoe, Moon Wong, said she was disappointed by the E rating her workplace was given last month.
The large kitchen, which appeared tidy, organised and clean, had been punished for having bagged goods on the floor, using plastic chopping boards and leaving foods uncovered.
"Obviously we are not pleased by the outcome but you can see that our kitchen is clean and our people are tidy. We will just wait and see what the council has to say the next time they come around."
