E.coli being detected in mayonnaise and a dead rodent were some of the reasons for nine closures orders by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) in February.
Nine closure Orders and one Prohibition Order were served on food businesses during the month of February for breaches of food safety legislation, pursuant to the FSAI Act, 1998 and the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020.
The Enforcement Orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE) and sea-fisheries protection officers in the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA).
The five closure orders that were served under the FSAI Act were: Super Asia Food (retailer), 27 Capel Street, Dublin 1, White Rabbit (restaurant/café), 27 Capel Street, Dublin 1, Il Capo (takeaway), 62 Talbot Street, Dublin 1, Cork Oriental Supermarket Ltd (Closed area: the kitchen and kitchen storage area) (restaurant/café), 12 Daltons Avenue, Cork and Homesavers (Closed activity: To cease the sale, packaging and/or processing of all food products on the premises) (retailer), Unit 4, Mile Height Retail Park, Tralee, Kerry.
The four closure orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations were East Oriental Take Out, Unit 5, Block C, Barbazon Hall, Ardee Street, Dublin 8, Top Oil Gala (Closed Area: the food service area/deli) (retailer), McKee Avenue, Finglas, Dublin 11, Dook's Fine Foods (restaurant/takeaway), The Cross, Fethard, Tipperary and Gianny's (takeaway), St Mary's Road, Edenderry, Offaly.
Finally, the one Prohibition order was served under the FSAI Act was the Fish Seafood Deli Ltd, Unit 6/7, Carbery, Enterprise Park, Skibbereen, Cork.
The FSAI said some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in February included: a significant risk of cross contamination due to the condition of the staff toilet, with a water leak flowing into the food storage and preparation area and flooding a nearby carpet; E. coli detected in parsley mayonnaise, beetroot hummus, rocket pesto and chicken and chorizo bap, indicating that faecal pathogens may also be present or that poor hygiene practices occurred.
There was also food debris and black mould found on surfaces, indicating inadequate cleaning procedures; frozen meats stored for an unknown duration and no traceability information could be found; no monitoring of food temperatures that are critical to food safety, with sausages and rice stored at potentially harmful temperatures.
Other reasons included a dead rodent found near the kitchen, indicating inadequate pest control procedures; an extraction hood dripping grease down the canopy; and there were no hand washing facilities for staff.
Speaking about the orders, Dr Pamela Byrne, chief executive of the FSAI, said: "Maintaining a clean premises is essential and obligatory for every food business.
“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."
The FSAI said a prosecution was also taken by them in relation to Healing with Hemp, T/A Kama Hemp, Burdautien, Clones, Monaghan.
Dr Pamela Byrne welcomed the ruling upheld by Judge Raymond Finnegan in Monaghan District Court on February 22nd, 2023 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.
She said the ruling sends a strong message to food businesses that obstructing an authorised officer will not be tolerated under any circumstances and in this particular case, it resulted in prosecution.
