THE Food Safety Authority (FSAI) served a food closure order on a County Limerick public house last month for failure to comply with food legislation.
The closure order directed that Casey’s Pub at Raheenagh immediately close its kitchen, the store room off the kitchen, and a section of the keg/ bottle store room, which was being used for food production activities with fryers and a soup tureen.
Environmental Health Officers with the Health Service Executive (HSE) found that the the small kitchen space did not permit good food hygiene practices, including protection against contamination as raw and ready-to-eat food were stored beside each other.
They reported that the kitchen had no windows or mechanical ventilation to prevent condensation and also found evidence that the ceiling board was broken with loose exposed plasterboard hanging over open food and a chopping board for sandwiches, leading to a direct risk of the shedding of particles onto food.
“Due to a lack of adequate working space, storage rooms adjacent to the kitchen had become food rooms. One very cold store room of which loose natural stones and mortar formed part of the wall structure and which was crumbling. There was no ceiling, the roof was exposed wooden beams and wiring, covered in cobwebs and dust. The structure did not avoid or minimise the risk of air-borne contamination for food ingredients stored here,” the report read
According to the FSAI, 77 Enforcement Orders were served on food businesses nationwide for breaches of food safety legislation in 2022, an increase of 31 per cent on the 59 that were served in 2021.
The increase in Enforcement Orders follows almost a full year of normal food business operations following the lifting of remaining Covid-19 restrictions in early 2022.
Commenting on the annual figures, Dr Pamela Byrne, FSAI Chief Executive, 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. Enforcement Orders are served on food businesses only when a risk to consumer health has been identified or where there are a number of ongoing breaches of food legislation.
“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.”
