A dead rodent found near the kitchen and frozen meats stored incorrectly were among the reasons why the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) ordered nine food businesses to close last month.

The FSAI today (Wednesday, March 8) confirmed that nine closure orders and one prohibition order were served on food businesses during the month of February for breaches of food safety legislation.

According to the authority, the reasons why businesses were ordered to close included:

A significant risk of cross contamination due to the condition of the staff toilet;
E. coli detected in parsley mayonnaise, beetroot hummus, rocket pesto and chicken and chorizo bap;
Poor hygiene practices occurred;
Food debris and black mould found on surfaces;
Frozen meats stored for an unknown duration and no traceability information;
A dead rodent found near the kitchen;
No handwashing facilities for staff.

Dr. Pamela Byrne, chief executive, FSAI, said:

“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.

"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."

The food authority served five closure orders 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 also served under the European Union 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 also served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:

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

The FSAI also provided details today about a prosecution that was taken against Healing with Hemp, T/A Kama Hemp, Burdautien, Clones, Monaghan.

According to the authority at Monaghan District Court on February 22, 2023, Catherine Mullaney, Marcus John McCabe and Kamaceuticals Limited were convicted on two counts of obstructing authorised officers of the Health Service Executive and received fines totaling €3,000.

Dr. Byrne said the ruling sent "a strong message" that obstructing an authorised officer "will not be tolerated under any circumstances".