FSAI issues four January Closure Orders
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) recently reported that Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE) served four Closure Orders on food businesses during January 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.
Greg Dempsey, chief executive, FSAI
Some of the reasons for the Enforcement Orders in January include: rodent activity was found in a kitchen ground floor; an accumulation of grease deposits that had formed on the ceiling tiles above a utensil wash sink; a bucket full of brown unidentifiable liquid containing white pipes beneath the sink in a bar area; walls, wall floor junctions and doors in a main kitchen area spattered with food and dirty throughout; a major leak from the ceiling in a kitchen area requiring a number of buckets placed on the floor and on surfaces where food was being prepared; unsafe food placed on the market that was past its ‘use by’ dates.
Commenting today, Mr Greg Dempsey, chief executive, FSAI, highlighted the need for food businesses to implement a rigorous food safety management system with their business.
“Inspectors are finding recurring incidents of unhygienic practices and rodent infestations in food businesses. Implementing and maintaining a food safety management system is a basic requirement and should be of the highest importance for food businesses. Maintaining a clean premises is not a ‘nice to have’ – it is a basic legal requirement. All food businesses have a duty of care to their customers to serve food that is prepared in a clean premises and is safe to eat. There is no excuse for bad practice.”
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.
