The Food Safety Authority of Ireland issued six Closure Orders to food businesses during December due to breaches of food safety legislation.
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 on the premises.
Some of the reasons given for the Closure Orders in December included rotten meat found stored on site, rodent droppings on packets of foods for sale, and staff not wearing protective clothing when preparing sandwiches.
There was one popular Dublin pub, Hole in the Wall, located near the Phoenix Park, that was slapped with a closure notice. FSAI inspectors ordered it to close certain areas of the pub including the kitchen, side preparation areas and storage shed.
The four food businesses affected by Food Closure Orders last month were:
- Ballaghaderreen Grocery Store, Charlestown Road, Ballaghaderreen, Roscommon - Served on December 14 and lifted on December 16.
- Hole in the Wall (Closed area: the kitchen, side preparation areas and storage shed), Blackhorse Avenue, Cabra, Dublin 7 - Served on December 8 and lifted on December 9.
- Casey's Pub (Closed area: kitchen, the store room off the kitchen and the part of the keg / bottle store room used for food production activities; a table with fryers and soup tureen), Raheenagh, Limerick - Served on December 2 and not lifted as of January 10.
- The Cosy Corner Outside Catering (Closed Area: Manufacture and distribution of filled baguettes, sandwiches and wraps for distribution to other premises), The Cosy Corner, Crossroads, Killygordon, Lifford, Donegal - Served on December 1 and lifted on December 5.
The Closure Orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020.
Two further Closure Orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:
- The African Shop/Costello Stores, 87 Shandon Street, Cork - Served on December 29 and lifted on January 6.
- RBK Poultry Limited, Unit E4, Chapelizod Industrial Estate, Chapelizod Road, Dublin 10 - Served on December 23 and not lifted as of January 10.
In total, 77 Enforcement Orders were served on food businesses for breaches of food safety legislation in 2022, an increase of 31% compared to 59 served in 2021.
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.
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