Food businesses in Cork and Limerick hit with closure orders

'Large accumulations of rodent droppings' were found in the Cork business

A total of six orders were served by the FSAI last month. They were among 77 orders issued in 2022.

Businesses in Cork and Limerick were among the traders hit by closure orders from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) in December.

A total of six orders were served by the FSAI last month, via HSE environmental health officers and FSAI officers.

They were among 77 orders issued in 2022 by the group, which is responsible for protecting public health and consumer interests in the area of food safety and hygiene.

Four closure orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:

• Ballaghaderreen Grocery Store, Charlestown Rd, Ballaghaderreen, Roscommon; 
• Hole in the Wall, Blackhorse Avenue, Cabra, Dublin 7;
• Casey's Pub, Raheenagh, Limerick;
• The Cosy Corner Outside Catering, The Cosy Corner, Crossroads, Killygordon, Lifford, Donegal.

Casey's Pub was issued with the notice on December 2, with inspectors ruling that a small kitchen led to a lack of space which "did not permit good food hygiene practices".

Furthermore, a ceiling board was broken with loose, exposed plasterboard over open food and a chopping board for sandwiches, with a direct risk of the shedding of particles into food.

Issues were also found in a "very old" store room and an adjacent keg room, where inspectors noted that there were "two hot oil fryers for meat products and chips and a tureen of hot soup balanced on a beer keg".

The order had not been lifted at the time of writing.

A further two closure orders were served for breaches of the FSAI Act of 1998.

These were issued to: 

• The African Shop/Costello Stores, 87 Shandon St, Cork;
• RBK Poultry Limited, Unit E4, Chapelizod Industrial Estate, Chapelizod Rd, Dublin 10.

Costello Stores was found to have not been kept "clean and maintained in good repair and condition".

The order stated that "large accumulations of rodent droppings were located at wall to floor junctions" and that more rodent droppings had been found on products on sale to the public.

Bags of rice had also been found to have damage similar to pest gnawing on them.

The order was served on Costello Stores on December 29 and lifted on January 6, 2023.

The 77 total orders was an increase of 39% on the number of orders from 2021.

The FSAI said that a number of recurring issues were found.

These included:

• Improper storage of food with risk of possible contamination; 
• A lack of pest control procedures, monitoring, and pest proofing; 
• A lack of proper temperature control in the storage, preparation, and distribution of food;
• Inadequate staff training in relation to food safety, personal hygiene, and record keeping.

Commenting on the annual figures, FSAI chief executive Pamela Byrne said: "Through the hard work of our partner agencies and food inspectors in 2022, food businesses that disregarded the law and put consumer health at risk were stopped. 

"However, this should not be happening. Food businesses should not be falling short on their legal requirements. They should adhere to food safety regulations at all times. 

"It is disappointing that month after month, food inspectors find similar, basic, and fundamental breaches of food law”.