Sultan's Table slugs result in $10,000 fine

The Sultan's Table kept its coffee beans and freezer in the toilet. Picture / Paul Estcourt

A central Auckland restaurant which had slugs in its kitchen and kept coffee beans stored in the toilet has been fined nearly $10,000 in what a city environmental health officer has called a "horrendous" case.

The Sultan's Table, which operated in Victoria St West, has been closed since June last year but in the Auckland District Court the restaurant's owner, Cem Karavan, has been fined $9100 for breaches of food hygiene regulations and the Local Government Act.

Auckland City Council senior environmental officer Darryl Thompson said the Sultan's Table had ignored numerous requests by the council to clean up.

Pictures show grease-coated walls and filth on the floors which Mr Thompson described as "disgusting".

Judge Graham Hubble said Karavan was not qualified to manage a food business and the only mitigating circumstance was he had closed down all his restaurants.

Karavan's company Karavan Catering, which ran the Sultan's Table, applied to be put into liquidation in January this year.

He was convicted on 56 charges, having failed numerous health inspections in recent years.

Mr Thompson said the charges related to poor cleanliness and maintenance. Slugs were found in the kitchen (which had no fly screens to close off the cooking area), repair work was needed on the floors, coffee beans were stored in the toilet as was the freezer, and a food licence was not displayed.

Karavan was also convicted on two charges of failing to comply with the instructions of a council officer.

The judge said Karavan showed a serious lack of response to repeated requests for improvement by council health officers and had permitted a serious health hazard to exist.

While Mr Thompson said there were no reports of food poisoning from the Sultan's Table, one woman had complained to the council that the food tasted bad and smelled funny.

Auckland City covers 15 areas with 14 environmental health officers checking on businesses, Mr Thompson said. About 100 businesses did not meet compliance requirements at the moment.

Most of those were because the operators did not have licences, which were intended to ensure six-monthly checks by the council.

Some just refused to become licensed while others could not afford it, Mr Thompson said.

Of the 4500 premises which were licensed, he said, about 85 per cent were A grade (the highest standard) and 10 per cent were B grade.

The others were D and E grades. An E grade meant staff might not be trained in food hygiene, there were food issues or there might be problems with cockroaches and other pests.

www.aucklandcity.govt.nz/council/services/foodsearch