127 Enforcement Orders served on food businesses in 2025
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today (13 January) stated that 127 Enforcement Orders were served on food businesses for breaches of food safety legislation in 2025, a decrease of 4.5% on the 132 that were served in 2024. Between 1 January and 31 December 2025, 102 Closure Orders, 23 Prohibition Orders and two Improvement Orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive, sea-fisheries protection officers in the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, and by officers of the FSAI on food businesses throughout the country.
Greg Dempsey, chief executive, FSAI
Commenting on the annual figures, Greg Dempsey, chief executive, FSAI, said: “While the total number of Enforcement Orders in 2025 decreased slightly compared to 2024, it is disappointing that we continue to see enforcement action being necessary due to fundamental breaches, such as pest infestations, poor hygiene, unsafe storage of food, inadequate staff training and the absence of food safety management systems. Additionally, we have found instances of unregistered food businesses operating illegally without notifying the competent authority, therefore bypassing essential food safety controls and putting consumers’ health at risk.”
The FSAI also reported that eight Closure Orders and one Prohibition Order were served on food businesses during the month of December 2025 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 and officers of the FSAI.
Some of the reasons for the Closure Orders in December include: failure to notify the competent authority of the establishment of a food business; active mouse infestation evidenced by droppings throughout food storage and preparation areas; defective drainage and sewage systems, with foul water leaking and backing up from sanitary facilities and contaminating kitchen floors and food preparation surfaces where ready-to-eat foods were handled; unsuitable and unhygienic food and equipment storage facilities; extremely poor hygiene standards, including heavily contaminated food contact surfaces, equipment and utensils; a lack of effective cleaning and disinfection procedures; absence of a food safety management system based on HACCP principles; unsafe food transport practices, including the use of an unrefrigerated vehicle for transporting meat with no controls in place to maintain the cold food chain.
Commenting on the December 2025 figures, Dempsey added: “Two of the seven Closure Orders in December were for businesses where they had failed to notify the competent authority of the establishment of a food business. It is unacceptable that some food businesses are choosing to operate outside of the law. All food business owners, big or small, whether trading from a business premises, in the home, from a mobile unit, food truck and/or online, must be aware of food hygiene and food safety legislation. Maintaining high food safety standards protects consumers and supports the long-term success of businesses, and enforcement action is taken where necessary to ensure compliance,” said Dempsey.
Details of the food businesses served with Enforcement Orders are published on the FSAI’s website. 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.
