It can’t have been a pleasant sight.
A pizza restaurant in Athboy in Meath was issued with a closure order in December of last year due to a blockage in a sewage pipe which caused a staff toilet bowl to become full with excrement.
The staff toilet in question opens directly into a food preparation room on the premises.
Athboy Pizza’s on Main Street in Athboy was issued with a closure order on 5 December on the basis that a defective drainage system may give rise to a food contamination risk.
The particular reason for the issuing of the closure order read as follows: “There was a blockage in the sewage pipe discharging from the staff toilet at the time of inspection.
“It was established that the blockage extended from the staff toilet to the waste water outlets servicing the kitchen sinks. The toilet bowl was full of human excrement.
“When taps were turned throughout the food business, the human excrement was observed bubbling up through the toilet bowl. The staff toilet opens directly into a food preparation room.
“The defective drainage system may give rise to a food contamination risk.”
The premises in Athboy was one of 64 food premises issued with closure orders in Ireland in 2017, according to figures released by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) on Tuesday.
Late last year, the FSAI began publishing the full details of the Enforcement Orders in line with its objective to increase transparency as a regulator and to raise food safety and hygiene standards in food businesses.
Enforcement Orders are served on food businesses only when a serious risk to consumer health has been established or where there are a number of ongoing serious breaches of food legislation.
The full details of the Enforcement Orders served on food businesses are published on the FSAI website.
LISTEN: You Must Be Jokin’ with Aideen McQueen – Faith healers, Coolock craic and Gigging as Gaeilge
