Three food premises shut after hygiene probe

FOOD safety chiefs closed a cafe, take-away and a delicatessen food-maker following their latest round of hygiene checks.

Inspectors also told a pub and a restaurant to improve standards of cleanliness while another pub was told its water was not fit for drinking.

Yesterday the Food Safety Authority of Ireland said owners of food premises could avoid enforcement orders by sticking to basic hygiene rules.

“Most enforcement orders are served due to the same easily preventable faults like poor hygiene, inadequate refrigeration and cross-contamination from raw to cooked foods.

“Consumers have to be confident the food they are eating is prepared in a hygienic manner,” he said.

Other basic faults included ingredients being stored in the wrong conditions, undercooked food, dirty workers and poorly trained or supervised staff.

Following the latest round of inspections on Tuesday, the FSAI closed down delicatessen food maker RCS Chill’s unit at Dublin’s North West Business Park in Ballycoolin.

A fortnight earlier the agency ordered the closure of Waterford’s Junction House takeaway in Strand Street, Tramore.

Both will be allowed to reopen if they convince food safety inspectors their premises are up to scratch.

On November 30, Dublin city centre’s Metro Café at 43 South William Street was told to shut but reopened the same day after addressing faults.

On January 10, Dublin’s Steering Wheel Public House in Main Street, Clondalkin was served an order to improve the standards of its food serving operation by March 27.

Four weeks earlier a similar order was served on the Sajan restaurant in Main Street, Cavan, with the owner Sajid Rasool having until today to show he has improved standards at his premises.

In November, the FSAI banned a Co Tipperary pub from using a water supply after finding it unfit for drinking. The ban at O’Sullivan’s in Kilea, Templemore, was lifted three weeks ago.