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14th April 2024
10:14am BST
There were a total of nine closure orders issued in March for Irish restaurants that showed "totally inadequate hygiene standards".
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) have released their monthly list of closure orders from the period of March 2024, of which there were nine in Ireland.
Among the reasons for the issued closure orders included storage of bags of beef, fish and unlabelled unidentified meats and chicken in the freezer and the walk-in fridge for an unknown duration and with no traceability, and the presence of fresh rat droppings.
Other reasons include overflow of foul water into the food preparation area, dirt and food debris on walls, floors, doors, touch points, equipment, fridges, freezers, surfaces, and food storage containers in the kitchen.
Le Chocolat de Frèd in Dun Laoghaire was issued with a Closure Order served under the FSAI Act, 1998, as a "large number of rodent droppings were present" on the premises.
The other eight orders were served under the European Union Regulations, 2020, and include:
Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI, said that breaches of food safety legislation pose a real danger to consumer health.
“March saw a high number of Enforcement Orders and some of the reasons listed demonstrate totally inadequate hygiene standards," said Dr Byrne.
"Consumers have a right to safe food and this legal obligation sits with the food business operators. These food businesses are damaging the reputation of the food industry as a whole and can impact the trust that consumers have in the food they eat.
"Environmental Health Officers, who inspect these food businesses, continue to encounter cases where consumers’ health is put at risk particularly through a failure to comply with hygiene requirements, pest control and food safety training requirements, which is unacceptable."
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