Four Irish food businesses were issued with closure orders during the month of August.
The transport of waste materials in the same vehicle as cooked and raw food was amongst the reasons behind closure orders being issued to four Irish food businesses during the month of August, according to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).
Closure orders were served on two food businesses in Meath and one apiece in Louth and Wexford during the month of August for breaches of food safety legislation, pursuant to the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010. The Enforcement Orders were issued by environmental health officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE).
Four Closure Orders were served under the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010 on:
- Riverview Takeaway (Closed activity: handling of raw kebab meat and raw chicken), Unit B, Molloy’s Building, Merchants Quay, Drogheda, Louth
- Lotus (restaurant) (Closed activity: supply of food to any other business), 70 South Main Street, Wexford
- O’Brien’s (restaurant) (Closed activity: food business except the public bar area serving beverages in disposable containers. All water incorporated into drinks or ice to be brought in from a potable supply), Johnstown Village, Johnstown, Navan, Meath
- Pizza Point (takeaway), Main Street, Dunshaughlin, Meath
Other reasons given for the closure orders were:
- Failure to adequately segregate raw and cooked food
- No date of minimum durability for highly perishable foods which were supplied to another food business
- Failure to provide written information of any allergens in food at the point of supply
- The private water supply to a premises being unfit for human consumption and posing a serious risk to public health
- No running hot water supply for cleaning hands, washing food, or for cleaning and disinfecting working utensils and equipment
- Poor cleaning throughout the premises and no disinfectant available at the time of inspection
Details on the closure orders can be read in full on the FSAI website here.
Commenting on the closure orders, Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI said: “It is essential for food businesses to have a strong food safety culture in their business, which can be achieved through ongoing staff training. Food businesses need to comply with the law and there are no excuses for failure to do so. Food safety inspectors are continuing to encounter basic errors being made by food businesses which are easily avoidable.
“Closure Orders are served on food businesses only when a risk to consumer health has been identified or where there are a number of ongoing breaches of food legislation, and that largely tends to relate to serious and grave hygiene or other operational issues. These Closure Orders indicate that not all food businesses are complying with the law and as a result, are potentially putting consumers’ health at serious risk.
“The FSAI provides significant resources to support food businesses in understanding their food safety legal obligations. If food business owners are unsure of what is required of them by law, they can contact the FSAI Advice Line at [email protected] or visit its website.
Details of the food businesses served with Enforcement Orders are published on the FSAI’s website. Closure Orders and Improvement Orders will remain listed 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.
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