3 Dublin restaurants served with Closure Orders

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today reported that seven Closure Orders were served on food businesses during the month of September for breaches of food safety legislation.

The Enforcement Orders were issued by environmental health officers in the Health Service Executive and officers of the FSAI.

Two Closure Orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:

• Bow Lane Restaurant, 17 Aungier Street, Dublin 2
• Rustic Stone (Restaurant/Café), 17 South Great George’s Street, Dublin 2

Five Closure Orders were served under European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:

• Lee Kee Chinese Restaurant, 100a Parnell Street, Dublin 1
• Ocean Palace (Take Away), Unit 8A, Blackcastle Shopping Centre, Blackcastle, Navan, Meath
• Homesavers (Closed activities: The storage, display and sale of all foodstuffs on the entire premises shall be ceased with immediate effect) (Retailer), Unit 10, City East Retail Park, Ballysimon, Limerick
• Food business operated by Stillorgan Trading Post Limited trading as Swift Fine Foods at Unit 4, Cooltrimegish Business Park, Laragh, Castleblayney, Monaghan
• King Pizza (Take Away), Knocknagree, Cork

Some of the reasons for the Closure Orders in October include: no pest-monitoring procedures were in place as dead mice and flies were noted on the premises; rodent faeces were found in several locations throughout a premises, including on food products and food contact materials; numerous large cobwebs as well as holes were noted on ceilings; food was not protected from contamination as flies were observed crawling on food, food surfaces and food related equipment; there were no facilities or arrangements for monitoring food temperatures and high risk meat products were found to be stored at high temperatures ranging from 9.8?C to 11?C; fried rice was stored at 39.1?C, while raw egg in the refrigerator was stored at 9.1?C; raw chicken and cooked pork were inappropriately prepared in the vegetable preparation area, with no cleaning of disinfection of work surfaces carried out; no system or procedures in place to allow for traceability information, with no records to indicate where mincemeat was sourced from; staff wore unclean clothes and footwear and were not wearing appropriate protective clothing, such as aprons and hairnets; despite basic food safety training, staff members continued to display a lack of knowledge regarding safe food preparation, storage and handling practices.

Commenting on the Closure Orders served in September, Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI, said that a lack of pest control procedures is unacceptable.

“It is a legal requirement for all food businesses to have a robust food safety management system in place that also ensures a high level of pest control.

“However, time after time, environmental health officers are finding incidents of rodent infestations and filthy premises highlighting a disregard for basic food safety and hygiene.

“All food businesses have a legal obligation to ensure that the food they are processing, serving or selling is safe to eat at all times.

“Consumers have a right to safe food and we would urge anyone who is concerned or suspect there is unusual activity being demonstrated by a food business, to contact us via our online complaint form and we will investigate.”

Details of the food businesses served with Enforcement Orders are published on the FSAI’s website at www.fsai.ie.

Closure Orders and Improvement Orders will remain listed in the enforcement reports on the website for a period of three months from the date of when a premises is adjudged to have corrected its food safety issue, with Prohibition Orders being listed for a period of one month