Five enforcement orders in December bring total food safety orders for 2016 up to 106

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has revealed that 106 Enforcement Orders were served on food businesses for breaches of food safety legislation in 2016.

Between January 1 and December 31, 2016, food inspectors served 94 Closure Orders, three Improvement Orders and nine Prohibition Orders to equal the amount for 2015.

The FSAI said the most common types of food safety issues leading to Enforcement Orders are:

poor cleaning and sanitation of premises;

poor personal hygiene;

lack of running water;

inadequate hand washing facilities;

incorrect food storage;

lack of or ineffective pest control programme;

structural problems arising from lack of ongoing maintenance and;

lack of or an inadequate food safety management system.

Last month four Closure Orders, one Prohibition Order and two successful prosecutions were served for food safety breaches.

Two Closure Orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:

* A Chef Kebab Foodstall, At Daltons Pub car park, Fuerty, Roscommon

* Day to Day (retailer), 54 Georges Street Upper, Dun Laoghaire, Co. Dublin

Two Closure Orders were served under the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010 on:

* Palak Restaurant, High Street, Tuam, Galway

* Ali Baba (restaurant/café), Bank Place, Rathkeale, Limerick

One Prohibition Order was served under the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010 on:

* T/A I&A Organic Gardening and Catering (food processor), 21 Shandon Way, Shandon, Cork

During the month of December two prosecutions were carried out by the HSE in relation to:

Auckley Ltd., The Palace (public house), 17 Ludlow Street, Navan, Meath

Largo Foods (manufacturer), Kilbrew, Ashboune, Meath

Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive of the FSAI said: "Enforcements and most especially Closure Orders and Prohibition Orders are never served for minor food safety breaches.

"They are served on food businesses only when a serious risk to consumer health has been identified or where there are a number of ongoing breaches of food legislation and that largely tends to relate to serious and grave hygiene or other operational issues. There is no excuse for careless food safety practices.

"Food inspectors are encountering the same issues time and time again. The typical reasons why Enforcement Orders have to be served are easily avoidable."