NINE FOOD BUSINESSES were ordered to close by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) in February for breaching food safety laws.

Additionally, one business was served with a prohibition order, meaning it is not permitted to sell certain products due to breaches of food safety laws.

Issues raised by inspectors included the presence of rodent droppings and dead rats and unclean food storage and preparation areas.

East Oriental Take Out, Unit 5 Block C, Barbazon Hall, Ardee Street, Dublin 8, was ordered to close immediately for failing to maintain clean premises.

The closure order said the fridge units were not clean and there was a large build-up of food debris present and black mould
in the cold room.

Additionally, “food containers were encrusted with grease and food, some containers were defective” and equipment such as pots “had layers of burnt on grease present”.

Super Asia Food, a grocery shop on 27 Capel Street, Dublin 1, was ordered to close due to an active rodent infestation in the food storage and preparation areas. “This was evidenced by the presence of rodent droppings,” the closure order said.

The inspector also observed “gaps and possible entry points for rodents” in these areas.

“The above conditions lead to a serious risk of food being contaminated with pathogenic bacteria likely to render the food unfit for human consumption.”

White Rabbit Café, also at 27 Capel Street, was issued a closure order for the same reason.

In a separate closure order – with the same wording as the one issued to Super Asia Food – the inspector said that there was an active rodent infestation on the premises.

Il Capo takeaway, 62 Talbot Street, Dublin 1, was ordered to close after rodent droppings and a dead mouse were seen by an inspector on the premises.

The closure order said that “adequate procedures were not in place to prevent pests gaining entry to the food premises.”

The food service/deli area in Top Oil Gala, McKee Avenue, Finglas, Dublin 11, was served with a closure order due to the lack of hot water in the premises, including at the wash hand basin and staff toilet.

“In the staff toilet there was no hot water, antibacterial soap or hand towels for hygienic hand washing,” the closure order noted. “The lack of adequate hand washing facilities for food workers is a risk to food safety and public health.”

The order also said there was a significant risk of cross-contamination from the staff toilet.

“The staff toilet was in a filthy condition and a bin containing used tissues and personal hygiene products was overflowing.”

Additionally, “the hot-hold unit was not operating correctly due to a broken lamp. As a result, cooked foods were not
held above 63°C. As a result, all food had to destroyed as it could not be verified that it was safe to eat.”

The kitchen and and kitchen storage area in Cork Oriental Supermarket, 13 Daltons Avenue, Cork was told to close over the discovery of rodent droppings and a dead rodent in these areas.

As a result of these conditions, “there is likely to be a grave and immediate danger to public health,” the closure order said.

Homesavers, Unit 4, Mile Height Retail Park, Tralee, Co Kerry, was served with an order to “cease the sale, packaging and/or processing of all food products on the premises.”

The closure order said: “An Authorised Officer was prevented / obstructed from carrying out an inspection in order to fully determine the nature and extent of a pest infestation and the extent of any contamination of foodstuffs, after establishing during the inspection the presence of rodent droppings on the premises.”

Dook’s Fine Foods, The Cross, Fethard, Co Tipperary received a closure order as the operators “The food business did not put in place, implement and maintain a permanent procedure or procedures based on the HACCP [Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point] principles.

“Adequate HACCP-based procedures had not been put in place and implemented for the production of parsley mayonnaise,
beetroot hummus, rocket pesto and chicken and chorizo bap,” the order said.

“The results of microbiological analysis of official samples of the aforemented products on 01/02/2023 found unsatisfactory
levels of Escherichia coli (E. coli).

“The presence of E.Coli in the parsley mayonnaise, beetroot hummus, rocket pesto and chicken and chorizo bap, indicaes that
faecal pathogens may also be present or that poor hygiene practices occured during processing and /or post processing.”

Gianny’s takeaway, St Mary’s Road, Edenderry, Co Offaly was told to close after an inspector found the premises in an unclean condition.

“This lack of adequate cleaning in the premise was identified during previous inspections and continues to be an issue,” the order said.

Some of the issues noted by the inspectors in the seven-page order were food debris and black mould on an under-counter refrigerated unit where foods were stored, greasy, unclean floors throughout the premises and unclean kitchen sinks.

Additionally, “there was evidence that articles, fittings and equipment coming into contact with food were not effectively cleaned and disinfected,” the order said.

Uncovered containers of food were also observed being stored in an unclean refrigerated storage unit, “which could result in
the contamination of the food.”

Fish Seafood Deli Ltd, Unit 6/7, Carbery Enterprise Park, Skibbereen, Co Cork was issued a prohibition order for 10 of its products, meaning it is not permitted to sell them.

The order said there were out-of-date products “decomposing at the time of inspection”.

Several other products were unlabelled and therefore in violation of EU laws around labelling requirements.

In a press statement, Dr Pamela Byrne, the Chief Executive of the FSAI, said: “Consumers must be able to trust that the food they are being served is safe to eat and it is unacceptable that some food businesses fail to fulfil this duty.

“Storage and food preparation areas must be properly cleaned and maintained to avoid potential contamination of food. It is also important that businesses have proper pest control procedures in place and that they are regularly checking that there are no pests in their premises.”

Also during the month of February, one prosecution was taken by the FSAI in relation to Kama Hemp, Burdautien, Clones, Monaghan

The ruling was upheld by Judge Raymond Finnegan in Monaghan District Court on 22 February in relation to charges brought against Catherine Mullaney, Marcus John McCabe and Kamaceuticals Limited.

They were convicted on two counts of obstructing authorised officers of the HSE, with total fines of €3,000.