THE FOOD SAFETY Authority of Ireland served two food businesses with closure orders last month.

The Closure Orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the HSE, under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations.

Paul Tobin Butchers on 3 Abbey Road, Clonmel, Tipperary was hit with a closure order, which did not affect the sale of raw meat.

The order pertained to the production and processing of all cooked and ready-to-eat food on the premises.

The HSE officer observed a “poor standard of cleanliness” during their inspection, such as a “significant build-up of food debris” as well as “engrained dirt on the floor”.

An accumulation of spider webs was also observed on the racking below the oven in the cooked/ready-to-eat foods preparation area.

The business had previously been advised about cleaning in HSE reports from February of this year and December of 2020.

The layout and design was also found to breach legislation and it was noted that there was a “serious potential risk of cross-contamination of ready-to-eat food with harmful bacteria”.

The business had also been advised on these matters during two previous inspections.

The handwashing facilities were also found to be inadequate, with the hand wash basin in the cooked-ready-to-eat foods preparation area being located in an “inaccessible corner of the room and could not be easily accessed without moving equipment”.

Meanwhile, the cooked meat slicer was observed to have been out away in an “unclean condition with evidence of accumulated food debris under and above the blade and in the harder-to-reach parts of the machine”.

The HSE officer noted that this increases the risk that harmful bacteria may survive on the surfaces of the slices and contaminate ready-to-eat food.

There was also evidence of chilled foods being stored above the “critical limit of 5 degrees” and at unsafe temperatures of between 9 and 13.4 degrees.

The officer added that “inadequate management checks had been carried out to verify that required controls including temperature monitoring were being performed timely”.

This order was enforced on 5 September and lifted less than a week later on 11 September.

Xi’an Street Food on 28 Anne Street South in Dublin was also reprimanded over the cooking of its duck spring rolls and had to cease with this activity.

The HSE officer said there was a “repeat failure to cook duck spring rolls thoroughly”.

They added that the “core temperature of the homemade duck spring rolls displayed uneven heat distribution, resulting in cool pockets in the core of the spring rolls as low as 36 degrees Celsius”.

When the duck meat was probed, it registered at 56 degrees.

The HSE officer added: “Considering the challenges of achieving consistent cooking temperatures, the activity of cooking duck spring rolls is to cease”.

The officer called for the cooking procedure to be “reviewed to ensure consistent cooking temperatures” of 75 degrees.

This order was enforced on 29 September and lifted several days later on 2 October.

Commenting on the closure orders last month, Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive of the FSAI, said: “Consumers have a right to safe food. Under food law, it is the legal responsibility of food businesses to ensure the safety of the food they sell to the consumer is safe to eat.

“All food businesses must establish and regularly review a food safety management system to prevent instances of non-compliance and violations of food safety regulations such as these, which are only imposed when a significant risk to consumer health has been identified or when there are persistent, severe violations of food regulations.”