Ten Enforcement Orders served on food businesses in August

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

The Enforcement Orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE) and officers of the FSAI.

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

• Ginzeng (restaurant/café), Unit 253, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15
• Cashel Curry and Pizza House (restaurant/café), 41 Main Street Cashel, Tipperary
• Bakers and Baristas (restaurant/café) (Closed area: The external dry goods storage area for this premises, housing the cold room and freezer room. Access to the cold and freezer room is permitted), Unit 230, Blanchardstown Shopping Centre, Blanchardstown, Dublin 15
• D Grill (restaurant/café), 40 Aungier Street, Dublin 2

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

• The Bernard Shaw (restaurant/café) (Closed areas: The basement area of the premises including food rooms, staff facilities and adjacent storage rooms), Cross Guns Bridge, Glasnevin, Dublin 9
• McSorley’s Centra, Old Dublin Road, Enniscorthy, Wexford
• Dalesann Haulage Limited, Jamestown House, Jamestown Business Park, Jamestown Road, Dublin 11
• Paddy O’Dwyer Quality Meats Ltd. (butcher shop) (Closed activity: The process of cooling down cooked foods (such as prepared dinners)), Unit 3, Upper Friar Street, Cashel, Tipperary
• Mizzoni Pizza (take away), 12 Railway Street, Navan, Meath

One Prohibition Order was served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations 2020 on:

• M Vape (retailer), 22 Castle Street, Sligo

Some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in August include: serious flooding in the basement, with damp and mould on the walls; filthy and flooded staff toilets; a defective ice machine leaking down the stairwell into the basement; bags of ice stored in non-food grade plastic bags, risking contamination; bird faeces and dead flies found in multiple locations throughout the premises; evidence of rodent activity in the cold room and freezer room, with inadequate pest control procedures in place; a leaking roof; food stored at unsafe temperatures, with a lack of temperature monitoring records; a failure to provide hot running water at sinks, risking contamination of food and food contact materials; the sale of unauthorised products; a business had not been approved by a competent authority, where it was not possible to verify compliance with food safety legislation; a lack of allergen information, both online and onsite; staff not effectively trained or supervised with regards to food safety and best practice.

Commenting, Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI, said that food businesses must operate strict food safety procedures at all times and that they need to be extra vigilant during periods of warm weather.

“Warmer weather can bring challenges, and both food businesses and staff must be attentive to potential issues, whether this be increased insect activity or issues with temperature controls.

“Food businesses have a legal requirement to ensure that hot and cold food is prepared with care and then stored appropriately, maintaining the hot or cold chain throughout preparation, storage and point of sale.

“Incidents of flooding were recorded in some of the August Enforcement Orders.

“These pose a serious threat to public health. Flood water that has entered your food business may have been contaminated with sewage, animal and other waste from drains or surrounding areas. There is then a substantial risk of onward contamination of food, equipment and food contact surfaces with harmful bacteria or even chemicals.

“Following flooding and the subsequent clean-up operation, it is advisable to speak to your local Environmental Health Officer for more advice before re-opening,” said Dr Byrne.

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.