Posted: November 12th, 2011 - 1:53pm by Doug Powell

Sunday morning in Brisbane, Australia, where the birds start their symphony about 4 a.m., fully light by 4:30 a.m., getting ready to listen to some Kansas State football, and photographs in the Sunday Mail of food service cold rooms, many of them “too gross to publish.”

The Sunshine Coast-based company Jaymak has provided pictures of the unappetizing conditions found inside the cold rooms of some of the state's restaurants and eateries, in support of calls for a mandatory "scores on doors" scheme.

Some cities like Brisbane have voluntary schemes, which is sorta dumb.

One of the worst cases involved a decomposing bird stuck in a cool room compartment at a fast food chain.

Photographs from other cool rooms reveal the build-up of mold and slime.

Jaymak owner Arie de Jong said the "ugliest" conditions were found within hard-to-reach air compartments, but the conditions could quickly spread mold and bacteria to food storage areas.

For a review of the purpose of restaurant inspection disclosure schemes and our experiment in New Zealand, see:

http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/140521/09/11/30/k-state-graduate-student-helping-new-zealand-development-national-restaurant-in

http://barfblog.foodsafety.ksu.edu/blog/151230/11/11/03/letter-grade-preferred-designing-national-restaurant-inspection-disclosure-syst