Food businesses in Limerick and Tipperary among four hit with closure orders
Four enforcement orders were issued in April, with three businesses ordered to close temporarily.
A food business in Limerick was forced to close last month after it was found to be preparing food with no electricity or hot water.
Four enforcement orders were issued in April by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, with three businesses ordered to close temporarily and one prohibition order served for breaches of the food safety laws.
Little Nero's in The Square, Abbeyfeale, was instructed to close by inspectors due to a lack of "continuous supply of hot water into the food premises" and no electricity, which led to high-risk food being stored at unsafe temperatures.
The inspector noted that food was being prepared with no power as the "generator used to provide electricity to the premises had run out of fuel at the time of the inspection".
"While food was being prepared, there was no electricity on the premises and the boiler was broken," it said.
The restaurant was served the order on April 21 and it has not yet been lifted.
Meanwhile, Meaghers Daybreak in Fethard, Co Tipperary, was also served with a closure order for a part of its establishment due to what the FSAI described as failure to "maintain the cold chain, having previously been warned of similar non-compliance in March 2022".
"High-risk, ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat foods [including sandwiches, fresh cream confectionary items and prepared meals], likely to support the reproduction of pathogenic micro-organisms or the formation of toxins were being held at potentially unsafe temperatures between 6.8C and 12.2C in the open refrigerated display unit located in the middle of the retail area," the report said.
The establishment's deli area was also marked by the inspector as unclean where "the floor and floor-to wall junctions beneath equipment in the deli were unclean, a significant accumulation of food debris, dirt and cobwebs".
The business closed on April 14 and reopened on April 15. The sale of all other foods from the retail area was not affected by the closure.
A third closure order was served to Vicos Grill, 1 Ludlow Street, Navan, Co Meath, for failure to put in place, implement, and maintain permanent procedures based on the HACCP principles.
The inspector said "hazards that must be prevented, eliminated or reduced to acceptable levels have not been identified".
They also noted that it "is a significant noncompliance with food safety legislation and may lead to unsafe food being placed on the market and will or is likely to pose an unacceptable health risk to consumers."
The takeaway closed on April 5 and reopened on April 14.
Elsewhere, in Dublin, one prohibition order was served on Pak Halal, 76 Main St, Swords, due to failure to provide "safe storage of food" due to a majority of food items passing their use-by date or not having one at all. Frozen food was labelled as fresh food and the inspector noted that some of the food packaging was damaged, which could risk potential contamination.
FSAI chief executive Dr Pamela Byrne said that while the majority of food businesses comply with food safety legislation, there continues to be a number who fail to meet their legal requirements.
“The enforcement orders served represent a clear disregard for compliance with food legislation which has been put in place to protect consumers. Consumers have a right to safe food," she said.
"Maintaining a clean premises with constant and reliable access to hot water and electricity is a basic, legal, and mandatory requirement of all food businesses. Food businesses are also legally obliged to provide consumers with accurate written allergen information on all food, whether prepacked or not," she said.
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