Hahn Cites Bakery as ‘Filthy,’ Files Rare Criminal Complaint : Health: Charges against Westside specialty baker are based on reports of state health inspectors. The firm’s president blames part of the problem on a remodeling project.

Hansen Cakes Inc., a Westside-based specialty cake bakery catering to the entertainment industry, has been charged in a rare criminal complaint with operating under conditions described by City Atty. James K. Hahn as “filthy and unsanitary.”

Hansen Cakes has had problems at its 1060 S. Fairfax Ave. bakery for more than 10 years, including frequent cockroach infestations and “deplorable” housekeeping, Hahn said in a statement. He filed a five-count complaint against the business and its president, Gary Hansen, on Dec. 18, based on reports by state health inspectors.

The bakery, one of the largest speciality cake makers in Southern California, also was cited Dec. 27 by county health inspectors, who reported a three-page list of violations. Among the violations found during the routine county inspection were “active cockroach infestation” and ventilation and cleanliness problems, according to an official inspection report.

Hansen acknowledged that the 40-year-old bakery has had problems, saying the most recent inspections came when he was remodeling to install new ovens and equipment. He said recent break-ins have made the building vulnerable to potential infestation.

“Some of the violations I accept. I’m doing my absolute best to fight the problem,” Hansen said Wednesday. During an interview, he produced an estimate from a local exterminator who had inspected the premises and reported finding no rodents or live insects.

“What I’m saying is that we have done everything they’ve told us to,” Hansen said. “The things that have happened in the past, we have taken care of.”

At an arraignment hearing set for today, Hansen plans to plead not guilty to the misdemeanor charges filed by Hahn. He faces a maximum penalty of six months in jail and a fine of up to $1,000 for each of the five violations alleged by the city attorney.

In the meantime, baking continues at Hansen’s Fairfax headquarters, which also serves two other outlets in Beverly Hills and Tarzana.

Hansen Cakes recently opened a showroom next to the Fairfax shop, where it displays ornate tiered wedding cakes and speciality cakes, and dozens of “thank you” photos from such clients as Michael Jackson, Tommy Lasorda, Bill Cosby, Frank Sinatra and former astronaut Edwin E. (Buzz) Aldrin Jr.

Hansen’s lawyer, Craig Jorgensen, said his client is being singled out unfairly by health inspectors.

“They always find problems in all inspections in all places, I think,” Jorgensen said. “In terms of the standards of the bakery industry, I think this is one of the better ones.”

Frank Nava, chief of field operations for the Food and Drug Branch of the state Department of Health Services, said such criminal filings are rare, because most problems are handled through negotiation and then civil complaints. “Typically, it is not done,” he said.

The food and drug agency, in asking the city attorney to file the charges, alleged in a report that Hansen Cake’s “management has neglected sanitation requirements and has exhibited a history of operating under grossly unsanitary conditions” during six inspections of the bakery starting Aug. 23, 1977, and ending Oct. 26, 1989.

“Each inspection has revealed that the firm has had active vermin infestation of cockroaches and insects,” the report said. An inspection last April also revealed active rodent infestation, and “dead cockroaches have been observed on two separate inspections in cake flour and powdered sugar raw materials,” it said.

Major structural violations also were found, which the report said allowed for the entry of pests into the bakery.

“Overall, the firm has exhibited minimal improvements in the sanitation of the firm despite the numerous reports of violations the firm has received from the agency,” the report said.