FOUR FOOD BUSINESSES were served with closure orders by food safety inspectors last month – including one take away in Limerick where rodent droppings were found on the floor of the food production area.
A bakery in Cork was closed due to the presence of a live rodent in an open section of wall cavity.
And a take away in Dublin was ordered to close its doors to address problems with human excrement flowing from the piping of a toilet used by staff.
FSAI chief Dr Pamela Byrne said it was not acceptable that consumers’ or food workers’ health be compromised by inadequate food safety practices.
“Food businesses run the risk of making their customers sick through contaminated food and ruining their reputation with consumers and within the industry by neglecting basic food safety management and hygiene standards,” Byrne said.
Closure orders were served under the 1998 FSAI act on:
And one closure order was served under the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010 on:
Order details
The closure order for the Hot Spot takeaway in Limerick, which can be viewed in full on the FSAI website, detailed the extent of rodent droppings found during the inspection.
“Rodent droppings were present on the floor in the food production area of the premises,” it said.
“They were present on the floor at the rear of upright fridge on which TV screen is mounted and under deep fat fryers.
“Droppings were also present at the opening to a gap under the front counter. Droppings were also present on the floor under the pizza oven at the rear of the premises.
“Several gaps are present within the internal structure of the building allowing for harbourage of rodents.
There is currently an absence of a pest control treatment contract with a competent pest control contractor.
The closure order was served to the business on Monday of last week.
The closure order for Lamar & Bread Limited in Midleton detailed the presence of a live rodent in a wall cavity.
The inspector said the presence of the rodent posed a “serious risks of contamination with pathogenic bacteria and foreign matter such as rodent droppings”.
That closure order was enforced on 15 January and lifted two days later.
The closure order for the Lam Inn on Dublin’s South Circular Road found that human excrement was overflowing from the piping of a toilet used by food workers.
As staff use the toilet they would be standing in the excrement, thereby carrying it into food preparation areas on their shoes.
Colm Leavy Butchers at Lambs Cross in Sandyford, south Dublin, was ordered to close part of its business on 9 January due to the “cooking of raw chickens and the hot holding and handling of cooked chickens”.
The inspector also detailed problems with cleanliness at the premises.
Breaches
“Non-compliances are not tolerated and breaches of food safety legislation are dealt with to the full extent of food law,” Pamela Byrne, the FSAI chief executive, said.
“If any food business owner is unsure of what is required of them by law, they can contact the FSAI advice line at info@fsai.ie or visit its website www.fsai.ie or Facebook page,” her statement added.
Closure orders are listed on the FSAI website for a period of three months from the date of when a premises is judged to have corrected its food safety problem.
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