THE FOOD SAFETY Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has announced that four food closure orders were served on food businesses during the month of October for breaches of food safety legislation.

A pub in Dublin was among the premises closed temporarily under the FSAI Act, 1998.

O’Neills (public house), 2 Suffolk Street, Dublin 2, was found to have a live rodent and fresh droppings on site, and did not have adequate procedures for controlling pests.

Nico’s (take away), 289 Richmond Road, Ballybough, Dublin 3, was found to have rodent droppings with rats in the food preparation room, along with rodent urine. 

Panda Chinese Take Away, Main Street, Clogheen, Tipperary, was found to have had uncovered ready to eat food stored outside in its back yard area, rusting utensils and embedded grease and dirt in all cooking appliances in the kitchen. 

One other premises was in breach of European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020.

Golden Beach Supermarket, 137 Parnell Street, Dublin 1, was ordered to close part of the activities of the business, specifically the preparation and serving of food in the kitchen and service area, due to issues with equipment and areas of the premises.

The FSAI said its cleaning equipment was “filthy”, while there was “evidence of cockroach activity in the food preparation area”, with several found in traps behind and under the equipment at “different stages of their life cycle”.

It also noted that food contact surfaces were observed dirty with build-up of grease and food debris evident throughout the food preparation area while floor surfaces had an accumulation of dirt, grease and food debris at the junctions on its walls. 

Shelving and food storage units were in “an unclean condition”, the FSAI added. 

Its inspector found that food contact equipment was kept in poor conditions such that the food that is prepared with that equipment was likely to be contaminated
rendering the food unfit for eating. 

It also found that “vulnerable high-risk food was being kept at temperatures that were likely to result in a health risk”. The display fridge contained pork and tofu salad dishes stored for “prolonged and unknown periods of time” at 8.1 oC and 9.4 oC.

Meanwhile, in the hot display unit foods were held for prolonged and unknown periods of time at temperatures that “promote the likely outgrowth of pathogens” such as salmonella spp, Listeria monocytogenes, and Staphylococcus aureus.

“The above conditions lead to serious risk of food being contaminated with pathogenic bacteria likely to render food unfit for human consumption, injurious to health, or contaminated in such a way that would be unreasonable to expect it to be consumed in that state,” the FSAI said.

 The Closure Orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive.

Dr Pamela Byrne, chief executive of FSAI, said it was disappointing that inspectors continue to find a lack of evidence of safe cleaning practices in food businesses and that there must be “zero tolerance” for negligent practices. 

“It is a legal requirement for all food businesses to have their premises protected against pests and kept clean and yet food inspectors continue to find unacceptable levels of non-compliance with food safety legislation in some food businesses,” she said in the agency’s monthly closures statement.

“There is a personal responsibility for managers and all employees to comply with food safety law at all times. There can be zero tolerance for negligent practices that put consumers’ health at risk and Environmental Health Officers will use the full powers available to them under food law if a food business is found to be in breach.

“Consumers have a right to safe food and food businesses have a legal requirement to ensure that the food they are processing, serving or selling is safe to eat.”