The Food Safety Authority says its hotline is getting frequent reports about food contaminated with foreign objects including insects, glass and chewing gum.

69 enforcement orders were served on businesses last year.

Ireland experienced its highest rate of food recalls or withdrawals in a decade last year, with salmonella bacteria in soups and an amphetamine-like substance in a diet food supplement among some of the causes.

A live insect in a dessert, a human nail in a takeaway meal, and a cigarette butt in a bag of chips were among thousands of complaints made by the public to the Food Safety Authority.

The Food Safety Authority said there was no justification for businesses to be in breach of the food safety legislation, after 11 enforcement orders were served last month on hotels, restaurants, takeaway and wholesale providers.

The Food Safety Authority ordered 10 businesses to stop certain activities last month due to breaches in food related health and safety.

The Food Safety Authority has said they received almost 3,000 complaints by consumers relating to food, food premises and food labelling in 2015.

Bacteria that are resistant to medicines are being passed into humans from the food chain, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland has warned.

The Food Safety Authority has said 10 closure orders were issued last month.

A Castletownbere-based seafood company was served with a prohibition order last month and six food businesses around the country were closed down, according to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland in its latest announcement of enforcement orders.