DEAD insects and rodents and a build-up of waste with a “foul odour and flies present” were some of the reasons behind nine enforcement orders served on food businesses last month.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today said the closure and prohibition orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the HSE.
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Four closure orders were served under EU regulations.
Johnson Best Food African Take Away, 86 Summerhill, Summerhill, Dublin 1 was hit with the order on May 29, and which remains in place.
Reasons for the order included raw and cooked food not being stored at the right temperatures, food not being thawed correctly and a lack of adequate hand washing facilities for staff.
Dublin Pizza Company on 32 Aungier Street & 35 Aungier Street, Dublin 2 were also served the order on May 29, but it was later lifted on May 31.
Accumulations of old food debris, dirt, cobwebs and dead insects on floors beneath and behind equipment and on window sills, walls and shelving in the prep room, were among the reasons for the order.
Mizzonis Pizza, on 15 Prospect Road, Glasnevin, Dublin 9 was served on May 23, with the order lifted on June 4.
They were issued the order because of a lack of adequate and regular cleaning, a build-up of waste stored in a room next to the toilets where a poor odour and flies were present, and no food safety management system.
D1 Cafe and Bakery, on 52 Dorset Street Lower, Dublin 1 was served June 2, and it remains in place.
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Reasons for the order included having only one sink to wash dirty equipment and prepare food, failure to maintain the ‘cold chain’ of food preparation and food being stored in an unsafe manner.
Elsewhere, two closure orders were served under the FSAI Act 1998.
The first of which was issued to Istanbul Bite on Upper Cork Hill, Youghal, Cork on May 22, and it has not yet been lifted.
Reasons for the order included the food business not being kept clean and maintained in a good condition, with large accumulations of rodent droppings in the boiler room next to the potato peeling room and a grill cover being damaged providing a potential pest ingress point.
Applegreen Cobh (fuel pumps external to the shops are not subject to this Closure Order), in Tiknock, Cobh, Cork was served on May 14, before it was lifted on May 17.
Dead rodents
Reasons for the order included multiple dead rodents and rodent droppings being found in the premises.
Two prohibition orders were served under EU regulations.
Fresh Oriental Store Limited, on 30-32 Abbey Street Upper, Dublin 1, was served on May 30, but it later lifted on the same day.
The banned items were Toofy Duck braised duck heads, necks, wings and feet and Toofy Duck braised chicken feet.
The reasons included the inability to establish the traceability of the food, no adequate information, labelling or other identification regarding the food.
Johnson Best Food African Take Away, on 86 Summerhill, Dublin 1, was also served on May 29, and it remains in place.
Banned items
The banned items included three chest freezers full of refuse and plastic bags containing frozen beef, goat meat, fish, beef intestines, whole chicken chunks, beef kidneys, lamb, fish heads and hake.
Reasons for the order included unlabelled and untraceable food items.
And one other prohibition order was served under the FSAI Act 1998 on The Village Grocer, Upper Main Street, Ballyporeen, Tipperary, which was served on May 29 and has not yet been lifted.
The items included sandwiches, cheese, sausages, cream and yoghurt and the reasons included food being out of date.
Closure orders can refer to the immediate closure of all or just part of the food premises, or all or just some of its activities.
‘Grave and immediate danger’
It is served “where it is deemed that there is or there is likely to be a grave and immediate danger to public health at or in the premises; or where an improvement order is not complied with”.
A prohibition order is issued “if the activities (handling, processing, disposal, manufacturing, storage, distribution or selling food) involve or are likely to involve a serious risk to public health from a particular product, class, batch, or item of food. The effect is to prohibit the sale of the product, either temporarily or permanently”.
FSAI boss Dr Pamela Byrne said breaches of food safety laws pose a real danger to consumer health.
She added: “This month has seen a decrease in closure orders from April, with a reduction of over 50 per cent in orders served.
‘Not an optional luxury’
“However, the fact remains that food safety is not an optional luxury when operating a food business.
“It is a legal requirement in food law to protect the health of consumers.
“By neglecting to uphold basic food safety and hygiene standards, a business not only jeopardises the health of its customers, but also risks damaging its own reputation as a trustworthy food business.
“The food industry must continue to improve its adherence to food safety legislation to ensure consumers’ health is protected.”
Details of the food businesses served with enforcement orders are published on the FSAI’s website at www.fsai.ie.
Closure orders and improvement orders will remain listed in the enforcement reports on the website for a period of three months from the date of when a premises is adjudged to have corrected its food safety issue, with prohibition orders being listed for a period of one month from the date the order was lifted.
