"Maintaining a clean premises with constant and reliable access to hot water and electricity is a basic, legal and mandatory requirement of all food businesses."
Three closure orders and one prohibition order were served on Irish food businesses during April 2023, according to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).
The enforcement orders were issued 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 by environmental health officers in the HSE.
One closure order was served under the FSAI Act on:
- Little Neros, The Square, Abbeyfeale, Limerick (Date served: 21/04/2023)
Two closure orders were served under the EU regulations on:
- Meaghers Daybreak (Closed areas (1) The deli area; (2) The open refrigerated display unit in the middle of the retail area for foods requiring refrigerated storage. The sale of all other foods from the retail area is not affected by the Closure Order), Kerry Street, Fethard, Tipperary (Date served: 14/04/2023 / Date lifted: 15/04/2023)
- Vicos Grill, 1 Ludlow Street, Navan, Meath (Date served: 05/04/2023 / Date lifted: 14/04/2023)
Meanwhile, the one prohibition order was served under the EU regulations on:
- Pak Halal, 76 Main Street, Swords, Dublin (Date served: 20/04/2023)
Under the FSAI Act, a closure order is served where it is deemed that there is or there is likely to be a grave and immediate danger to public health at or in the premises; or where an improvement order is not complied with.
Under the EU regulations, closure orders are served where there is non-compliance with food legislation.
Closure orders can refer to the immediate closure of all or part of the food premises, or all or some of its activities. The orders may be lifted when the premises has improved to the satisfaction of the authorised officer.
Meanwhile, under the EU regulations, prohibition orders are issued if there is non-compliance with food legislation by a food business operator relating to a particular consignment, class, batch or item of food. The effect is to prohibit the sale of the product, either temporarily or permanently.
According to the FSAI, some of the reasons for enforcement orders in April include the following:
"Frozen food was labelled as fresh food and the majority of food had passed its use-by date or had no use-by date; a food business had failed to maintain the cold chain, having previously been warned of similar non-compliance in March 2022; while food was being prepared, there was no electricity on the premises and the boiler was broken; the filters of the canopy above the cooking equipment were unclean; high-risk food was stored at unsafe temperatures, with cooked chicken stored at 11°C and garlic mayonnaise stored at 12.1°C; allergen information was either missing or inaccurate; hand washing facilities lacked hot water; food packaging was damaged and food was not protected from potential contamination; and food handlers were inadequately trained or supervised in food safety matters."
In a statement, the FSAI's chief executive Dr Pamela Byrne said the enforcement orders served in April represented "a clear disregard for compliance with food legislation which has been put in place to protect consumers".
She added:
"Consumers have a right to safe food. Maintaining a clean premises with constant and reliable access to hot water and electricity is a basic, legal and mandatory requirement of all food businesses. Food businesses are also legally obliged to provide consumers with accurate written allergen information on all food, whether prepacked or not."
This article originally appeared on JOE
Header image via Shutterstock
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