Ten Enforcement Orders Served on Food Business in February

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has reported that 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).

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

• 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
• 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

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

• 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
• Gianny’s (takeaway), St Mary’s Road, Edenderry, Offaly

One Prohibition Order was served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:

• Fish Seafood Deli Ltd, Unit 6/7, Carbery, Enterprise Park, Skibbereen, Cork

Some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in February include: 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; 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; a dead rodent found near the kitchen, indicating inadequate pest control procedures; an extraction hood dripping grease down the canopy; and there were no handwashing facilities for staff.

Commenting, Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, 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. Earlier this month we ran a free webinar on managing and monitoring pest control procedures in food businesses to address this reoccurring issue. This webinar can be accessed on the FSAI website,” said Dr Byrne.

Also, during the month of February, one prosecution was taken by the FSAI 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 22 February 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. This 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.

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.