THE operator of a Marrickville bakery described by a magistrate as showing "a reprehensible attitude to public health" has been fined $45,000 for having filthy, rat-infested premises.

Project Paragon Pty Ltd, operator of the Tuckerbag Bakery in Sydenham Road, has also been ordered to pay $15,000 costs after pleading guilty to 11 food law offences.

Reprehensible ... bread in a storage container (above) and a basin at the "filthy and unhygienic" Marrickville bakery.

After ignoring an order to cease trading, the company, headed by James Kwan, was taken to court for breaching the ban and having filthy premises and vermin infestation.

Primary Industries Minister Ian Macdonald said: "This is a serious case where a food outlet was in such a disgraceful condition that the Food Authority shut it down, but the owner flouted the order."