Not lovin' it: Dirt, grease and squalor found at Sydney McDonald's

An inner Sydney McDonald’s has been slapped with a $24,000 fine amid a statewide crack down on contaminated and pest-riddled fast food chains.

The Parramatta Road, Stanmore McDonald’s in Sydney’s inner west topped a long list of the eatery's outlets to be targeted by health inspectors as New South Wales Food Authority look to put an end to the unacceptable food practices.

The popular burger joint was called before the courts and slapped with the fine after investigators from the Inner West Council found their kitchen in a state of squalor and with out of date food.

In addition to the dirt, grease, splattered food waste, investigators also found evidence of paint flakes and construction dust in the kitchen.

“These instances are obviously very disappointing. It is unacceptable and inconsistent with our track record when it comes to restaurant cleanliness,” a McDonald’s spokeswoman told News Corp.

“We took immediate action to address these with the restaurants involved and to prevent any recurrence; crew members have been retrained, we are conducting more regular audits and have reinforced our procedures.”

Investigators also found that staff had not been properly washing their hands when preparing food.

Other stores hit in the fast food crack down included Bexley for out-of-date food, Maroubra for failure to eradicate pests, Mascot Airport for failure to prevent food from likelihood of ­contamination and South Nowra for dirty fixtures and equipment.

Newsbreak – February 18