Queensland Health Minister Stephen Robertson says "it's not good enough" that Sizzler took 37 days to report a possible case of food contamination in to Queensland Health.
The company has closed all self-serve salad bars in Australia until further notice after rat pellets were found in salad bar dishes at two restaurants in Brisbane.
Mr Robertson says he will consider making it compulsory for food outlets to report such incidents immediately.
"Well, I'm informed that there is no mandatory reporting for such instance under the Food Act, so this was actually one of the instances that was thrashed out over the last number of years through the review of the Food Act," he said.
"I think this is a case that - a real life case - that we should perhaps learn some lessons from and re-open that debate."
A Queensland restaurant industry body has warned against an overreaction to the poisoning scare.
Restaurant and Catering Queensland CEO James Visser says while the incidents are serious, food safety standards are generally are high.
"I think we also need to put it in perspective in terms of the number of meals that are served in Queensland every single day that are perfectly safe," he said.
"Queensland has an overall excellent reputation where it comes to food safety, these particular isolated incidents though we're taking exceptionally seriously."
Queensland, Australia police have charged a 57-year-old woman with the alleged contamination of the salad bar at two Sizzler restaurants.

Rat poison pellets were found in food at Sizzler restaurants at Toowong on January 20 and the Brisbane Myer Centre outlet last Sunday. Yesterday Sizzler closed salad bars nationwide, but they did not report the incidents to the Queensland Health Department until last Monday.  

Queensland’s Health Minister Stephen Robertson criticised the restaurant chain for delaying reporting a possible incident of food contamination for 37 days. "I think this is a case that - a real life case - that we should perhaps learn some lessons from,” he said.

Queensland Police Inspector Bob Hytch said the woman is the same woman police asked to come forward after she told Sizzler staff she had found pellets in soup at the Myer Centre restaurant last Saturday. 

The woman is expected to face Brisbane Magistrates' Court tomorrow charged with two counts of contamination of goods and four counts of an act intending to cause grievous bodily harm.