Food outlets warned over hygiene in hot weather
Food safety authorities today warned businesses to step up hygiene as the warmer weather increased the risk of bugs.
A restaurant and a supermarket delicatessen were among three food premises shut down last month over fears they were a threat to public health.
The Lir Cafe Bar in Market Square, Ballaghaderreen, Roscommon, was ordered to close down for a day, while a deli at the Make Cents supermarket at Gurteen Cross, Co Sligo, had to close for four days.
Authorities from the Health Service Executive (HSE) also served a closure order on Dublin’s Soul Bakery.
The business, at unit 5D of the Station Road Business Park at Clondalkin Industrial Estate in west Dublin, was shut for three days.
Also last month, the Polonez supermarket at Harmony Hill in Sligo was issued with a prohibition order, banning it from selling certain dairy products. The products were believed to pose a serious risk to public health.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said closure orders are issued when there is likely to be a grave and immediate danger to public health.
Professor Alan Reilly, chief executive of the FSAI, said it was a disappointment that numerous food businesses were reported for breaching food safety legislation every month.
“We would stress to food businesses the importance of maintaining the highest standards of food safety hygiene practices at all times and more especially in warmer weather, when food bugs can multiple more rapidly,” he said.
Prof Reilly said there was no excuse for food businesses to be unaware of their legal responsibilities to protect consumer health.
