Illegal food just not fare

Chefs scramble to get online but many unlicenced

ILLEGAL food producers are flooding Facebook with pasta and pies in an effort to earn extra cash during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A search of Facebook Marketplace shows the platform stuffed with food for sale – everything from deep-fried pork through to homemade lasagne and Turkish bagels.

But licensed operators say many are being operated illegally without the required food licence from the Gold Coast City Council.

The licence shows food is being prepared in a safe manner suitable for human consumption.

Joyce Palermo and Shane Tomkins run Japanese and Filipino restaurant Asami Teppanyaki at the base of the Q1 building in Surfers Paradise.

The pair started selling food on Facebook Marketplace in March following the ban on customers dining inside.

Ms Palermo said she had seen numbers double, with people scrambling to earn cash during the downturn.

“They don’t have any permits and don’t put any price on the food so you need to send a private message,” she said.

“Council they told us it was very rare for people to have a certified kitchen at home registered with the city council.

“We know people are trying to survive and we get that, but we have huge overheads and they have nothing.”

The couple called for proactive enforcement action by the council to root out illegal operators.

Licensed food seller Tanita Dharmajiva, who has run Tanita’s Kitchen from her Varsity Lakes home for the past twoand-a-half years, said she had seen the number of people selling food on Marketplace surge in the past three months.

“There are a lot of people who have been unable to work out of their restaurant or people who have been made redundant from their job,” she said.

“But I would say 50 per cent don’t have council permits.”

Ms Dharmajiva said she had sought dessert makers to add to the package of food products she offered for sale.

“I went to Brisbane to source Malaysian desserts and told them I needed to know they were licensed and insured but they said ‘no’,” she said.

A Facebook spokeswoman said sellers on Facebook Marketplace must comply with all applicable laws and regulations. “This applies to the sale of food products as well,” she said.

Facebook bans the sale of live animals, ingestible supplements and food and drinks that make health or medical claims.

A council spokeswoman said since late March it had seen a slight increase in the numbers of people applying for a licence to produce food from home. She said there had also been an increase in inquiries to its health officers.

“Council has received one report of a person selling food without a licence since the start of March 2020,” she said.

“If a person requires a food licence and prepares/handles/ sells food from unlicensed premises, they are committing an offence under the Food Act.”