16 Enforcement Orders were served to food businesses across Ireland during the month of July for breaches of food safety legislation, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) reported today, with “filthy premises” being the primary offence.
Specifically, the businesses were found to have breached the FSAI Act 1998 and the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations 2020.
The reasons for businesses being sanctioned varied, with some being more serious than others.
In total, 12 “Closure Orders” were issued to food premises, meaning the owner must close all or part of the food premises until the identified issue has been resolved.
Notably, half of these (six in total) were on one road in the Clondalkin area of Dublin alone.
The FSAI outlined some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in July, including “evidence of ongoing cockroach activity, which led to the serving of six Closure Orders on food businesses at one location.”
They also highlighted the fact that “live cockroaches” were found in equipment and on traps in the kitchen area.
“Multiple holes and gaps in the walls along with rodent droppings” were found, along with “a rodent carcass in a snap trap.”
Some businesses reportedly failed to implement adequate “pest control measures” or to “implement an appropriate food safety culture”.
The FSAI pointed out that at some premises, food was either expired, or had a missing or altered use-by date. In addition to this, some businesses’ food was not thawed safely, food items were stored at unsafe temperatures, and inadequate cleaning was observed.
“Equipment like meat slicers [were] congealed with fat and stale food debris,” the health body said, going on to claim that there was a “continuous failure to maintain consistent cleaning standards” with “filthy cleaning equipment and cleaning cloths.”
Dr. Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive of the FSAI, emphasised that compliance with food safety and hygiene regulations “should be of the highest priority for all food businesses.”
“Filthy premises, unsafe food storage and inadequate pest control measures are once again the primary reasons for this month’s Enforcement Orders,” she said.
“These violations demonstrate a total disregard for food safety requirements and highlight the ongoing failure of some food businesses to maintain basic, consistent cleaning practices, and this failure poses a significant risk to public health.
“Food businesses have a legal responsibility to ensure the safety of the food they produce, distribute or sell by maintaining proper storage temperatures, ensuring staff are properly trained, having stringent hygiene practices and ensuring their food businesses are fully pest proofed. Achieving a strong food safety culture requires continuous and consistent training for all team members.”
In a notice to one of the sanctioned Clondalkin businesses, the FSAI warned owners of the dangers of having cockroaches on the premises.
“Cockroaches are known to spread pathogens which can pose a risk to human health,” the notice reads, adding that they can “contaminate” food and food contact material with harmful diseases, including e-coli, and more. The notice added that this posed an “unacceptable risk to public health.”
The restaurants served with closure orders for various reasons include:
– Eurasia Supermarket, Unit 1, Fonthill Retail Park, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
– Evergreen Retail Limited (retailer), Unit 1, Fonthill Retail Park, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
– Humeera Traders Limited (retailer), Unit 1, Fonthill Retail Park, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
– Spice Village Indian Street Food (retailer), Unit 1, Fonthill Retail Park, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
– Eurasia Supermarket (Closed area: First floor food storage hall & attached kitchen area only), Unit 1, Fonthill Retail Park, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
– Spice Village Indian Street Food (Closed area – First floor food storage hall & attached kitchen area only) (retailer), Unit 1, Fonthill Retail Park, Fonthill Road, Clondalkin, Dublin 22
– Fayrouz Restaurant, 117 Cork Street, Dublin 8
– Riverhouse Café, 1 Castle Street, Cahir, Tipperary
– Boba Bar (restaurant/café), 139 Parnell Street, Dublin 1
– Hartigans (public house), 100 Leeson Street Lower, Dublin 2
– Duud (retailer), Unit 2 Pinewood House, Huntstown Road, Huntstown, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15
– The Garden @ The Shannon Bar, Termonbarry, Roscommon
In addition to these, four Prohibition Orders were issued, which prohibits the sale of a specific product, either temporarily or permanently, again for various reasons:
– Baltic Market (retailer), 2 Dominic Street, Drogheda, Louth
– Goa Indian Spice Kitchen Ltd (takeaway), Unit 103, St Patrick’s Woollen Mills, Douglas, Cork
– Select Asia (retailer), Unit 103, St Patrick’s Woollen Mills, Douglas, Cork
– Quality Foods (butcher shop), 59-61 Dublin Street, Balbriggan, Co. Dublin
One of these related to a premises selling lamb feet, lamb bones and chicken wings, though the food items “were found to be unlabelled”.
“When traceability information was requested for these specific food items, you were unable to provide any,” the FSAI officer added.
“I make this order, being of the opinion that there is failure to comply with food legislation for the particular reasons set out in Part 2 of the Schedule and the particular items of food identified in Part 1 of the Schedule should be not used for human consumption and should be prohibited from being placed on the market.”
The full FSAI report for July can be viewed here.