Nine closure orders and one prohibition order were served on food businesses in February for breaches of food safety laws, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland reports.
Reasons for the orders include a significant risk of cross contamination due to the condition of a staff toilet, a dead rat and rodent droppings, E. coli in food indicating that faecal pathogens may be present, food debris and black mould on surfaces, frozen meats stored for an unknown duration with no traceability information and no monitoring of food temperatures.
Closure orders were served on the Super Asia Food shop and White Rabbit café, both on Capel Street in Dublin city centre, due to rat infestations.
Il Capo takeaway on nearby Talbot Street was also ordered to close after a dead mouse and droppings were found.
The kitchen and storage areas of Cork Oriental Supermarket also received a closure order due to rodent droppings and a dead rat in a room connected to the kitchen.
Homesavers shop in Tralee, Co Kerry, was ordered to stop the sale, packaging and/or processing of all food products on the premises due to droppings.
Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive of the FSAI, said: "Consumers must be able to trust that the food they are being served is safe to eat and it is unacceptable that some food businesses fail to fulfil this duty.
"Storage and food preparation areas must be properly cleaned and maintained to avoid potential contamination of food.
"It is also important that businesses have proper pest control procedures in place and that they are regularly checking that there are no pests in their premises."
Four further closure orders were served on East Oriental Take Out, Ardee Street, Dublin 8, due to a list of unclean surfaces, the deli at Top Oil Gala in Finglas, north Dublin, partly due to the risk of cross contamination from a leaking toilet, Dook's Fine Foods in Fethard, Co Tipperary, where E coli was found in foods "indicating that faecal pathogens may also be present or that poor hygiene practices occurred", and Gianny's takeaway in Edenderry, Co Offaly, which was found to have food debris and black mould on surfaces.
One prohibition order was served under the FSAI Act 1998 on Fish Seafood Deli, Skibbereen, Co Cork.
Meanwhile, Dr Byrne welcomed the ruling upheld by Judge Raymond Finnegan in Monaghan District Court on 22 February 2023 in relation to charges brought against Catherine Mullaney, Marcus John McCabe and Kamaceuticals Limited.
They were convicted on two counts of obstructing authorised officers of the HSE, with total fines of €3,000.
This ruling sends a strong message to food businesses that obstructing an authorised officer will not be tolerated under any circumstances, the FSAI said.
