A TAKEAWAY AND bakery in two different parts of Roscommon and a kebab shop in Co Mayo were served with closure orders over food safety concerns last month.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said today that in total it served four enforcement orders on food businesses during the month of November for breaches of food safety legislation, under the FSAI Act, 1998 and the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010.

The Enforcement Orders were issued by environmental health officers in the HSE.

Two closure orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:

• Roma Grill (take-away), The Crescent, Boyle, Roscommon
• Clonark Home Cooked Foods (bakery), Clonark, Cornafulla, Athlone, Roscommon

Under the FSAI Act, 1998, a closure order 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”.

Closure orders can refer to the immediate closure of all or part of the food premises, or all or some of its activities.

In addition, one closure order was served under the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations,
2010 on:

• Kebab Zone (take-away), Main Street, Ballindine, Mayo

One prohibition order was served under the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010 on:

• Salius Milasius (retailer), 68 Shannon Park, Edgeworthstown, Longford

This referred to “all foods stored on the premises intended for further processing for sale or supply to the public”.

Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI stated that the legal onus is on food businesses to ensure that they are fully compliant with food safety legislation.

“We are urging all food businesses to have robust food safety management systems in place at all times, but particularly with the busy Christmas festive period upon us,” she said.

“To ensure that they can cope with this extra demand, food businesses must be familiar with the main factors that are easily preventable which can cause foodborne illness, namely: poor hygiene in the premises; inappropriate storage or inadequate refrigeration; inadequate cooking or re-heating; cross-contamination from raw to cooked food; infected food handler; contaminated raw ingredients; inadequately trained or supervised staff.”

Food service businesses will be working flat out to meet the current Christmas demands. Therefore, special attention must be given to the supervision and training of new staff, both part-time and full time, in all aspects of food safety.

Read: These 11 food businesses were closed last month>