Popular cafes named and shamed

Koffee_Kosmo

snip

Canberra health inspectors have used new food safety laws for the first time, forcing two popular cafes to display closure notices.

The heritage-listed Gus' Cafe in Civic and My Cafe at Manuka were shut down on Friday by the Health Protection Service because they were unclean and failed to keep some foods at the correct temperatures.
Prominent red signs have been displayed on the doors of the eateries, notifying would-be patrons of the closures.

It is the first time the signs have been put up since laws were passed in the Legislative Assembly last month, forcing eateries to display closure notices when they are issued with a prohibition order

http://au.finance.yahoo.com/news/popular-cafes-named-shamed-215632855.html

RichardM

I'm in two minds about this. In one hand, thumbs up to them for forcing cafes to admit they aren't sanitary etc as it will give people a real incentive to keep all above board. I know of a butcher near me that has two times been taken to court for alteration of used by dates...but of course, they've never had to tell anyone about it. It's not until you look on the web that you find the notices. On the other hand...we are becoming a society that is so sterile and sanitary that the slightest bacteria will send people to their knees, and some of the concerns might be over the top. People fearing non pasteurised cheese for example...

FreshCoffee2

Yeah I'm also not so sure about "naming and shaming"....there should be other ways available to the health authorities to get the message across to their "victims", usually by way of severe shock to the hip pocket nerve, and it may be said that it is their inaction over a period of decades, that continues to allow some "food outlets with a coffee machine" to keep going while their operations are less than sanitary. Just an opinion from the periphery. Dont get me wrong, I am certainly not in favour of people running unsanitary operations, but there is always more to it than meets the eye at first.... ***********************************  WRT the journo's decription "the heritage listed XXXX Cafe"... This is very interesting and is true, and from my understanding is because the cafe named was the subject of the ground breaking work by the original owner that eventually allowed open air / outdoor / sidewalk cafes to become legal in the Australian Capital Territory. Not sure if the listing includes the entire cafe, or only the framework outside on the footpath that constitutes the original "outdoor" seating area. My own business is the first coffee roasterie established in the ACT, having been established in 1962. I wonder if that means I should apply to the relevant authorities to have my business heritage listed for services rendered to the community in giving it a better alternative to instant coffee ;D ?

UNM

When any place that has been subject to a closure order re-opens, chances are they are more careful about infringements than a place that has not yet been caught. I'd not be too concerned about naming from that point of view. Repeated closure would, however, ring alarm bells.

on 1331438080:

My own business is the first coffee roasterie established in the ACT, having been established in 1962. I wonder if that means I should apply to the relevant authorities to have my business heritage listed for services rendered to the community in giving it a better alternative to instant coffee ;D ?

Sure - then you would probably find all sorts of restrictions on any planned changes to your business.