A Greek owned takeaway restaurant in Melbourne has fronted court over 42 violations of the Food Act following two failed food safety inspections by Frankston Council.

Souvlaki GR Frankston and its sole director have pleaded guilty to 13 of the charges with the remaining 29 dropped, and while other media have named the proprietor, Neos Kosmos has decided not to publish their name.

Magistrate Gerard Bryant said the business failed to meet the standards set in Australia and was surprised that customers had not fallen ill after consuming food from there.

“This was a petri dish masquerading as a souvlaki shop,” he said.

Frankston Magistrates Court heard the inspectors found numerous breaches over two visits.

During their first visit to the Wells Street shop on October 21, 2022, council inspectors found frozen chips stored in a crate beneath a wash basin and “brown and soggy” lettuce stored in a bucket.

A number of expired goods were found, including buttermilk and dozens of eggs that were two months past their use by date. In the same fridge inspectors found mouldy vegan cheese and sausages that were nine weeks past the expiry date of August 24.

Frankston council prosecutor Bruce Gardiner said staff were spotted reheating cooked spit meat, which they were told was cooked the night before.

“They were then mixing this potentially hazardous reheated cooked meat with freshly cooked meat from the spit,” he said.

“This cooked meat was only being kept warm at 60C in the bain-marie for as many hours as it takes to sell with no management of time.”

According to the Food Standards Code, previously cooked food must be reheated rapidly above 60C.

The bain-marie, which is used to keep food warm, in this case the spit meat, had a leak. Food handling gloves were used to plug said leak.

Gardiner also said raw chicken skewers and raw pork were found with no use by date and a total of eight expired tubs of dip.

The staff toilet sink was not working and the only sink where hands could be washed had no hot water.

Rubbish bins were overflowing and the shop floor was “filthy”, while staff were not using food grade sanitiser in food preparation areas.

It is reported that the company was notified of the violations on the day and that the council would return in a week.

The court heard that upon the second visit, the wash basins were still not fixed and ‘old’ meat was still being served.

Gardiner relayed that the Frankston business did attempt to fix some issues, but argued that the store should have closed if the sinks were unable to be fixed.

He also said the charges were serious and each could see a maximum fine of $200,000 for the franchise company and $40,000 for the director.

Souvlaki GR Frankston was said to have voluntarily closed after the second visit and was yet to reopen, with the manager and supervisor both sacked and new staff undergoing training for a reopening.

The court was told the director was of good character and had no prior convictions.

Their lawyer told the court there was eight Souvlaki GR shops in Victoria but Gardiner argued that there are in-fact 18.

“It’s the Greek McDonalds,” he said.

“They are popping up all over the place.”

According to the company website, there is in fact 16 stores across Melbourne.

Neos Kosmos reached out to Souvlaki GR founder Sam Karagiozis for comment, who says the sole director is not involved with the day to day and had no communication from the Frankston store about the breaches.

“Due to the massive staffing crisis, we relied upon the word of our staff and managers, and took their feedback on good faith. When the initial inspection occurred, we were not notified by the manager at the time, and thus could not rectify any issues,” he told Neos Kosmos.

“It wasn’t until a week later, when the second inspection occurred, that we were made aware of the issues at the store. Within 24 hours of knowing the issues that had arisen, we had rectified all problems and were compliant on every level – as all of our stores always have been.

“Following this incident, we put in a plan which involved much more involvement from head-office, with our management team in the store 3-4 times a week at a minimum. We quickly noticed the management, they were not up to the task, so we terminated their employment immediately and decided to close the store temporarily until the staffing crisis had improved, so that we can avoid this ever happening again.

“We have a team in training and are preparing to re-open the store with our core team later this year.

Ultimately, Souvlaki GR rectified any and all issues within 24 hours of being notified of any breaches.”

The Frankston store was convicted and placed on a 12-month bond, ordered to pay $40,000 to the court fund. The director was ordered to pay $15,000, which would have been more if not for the early plea, references and good history.