SEVEN ENFORCEMENT ORDERS have been served to food businesses in the month of June by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI), including one crèche in Dublin 4 which was issued with a closure order due to a ‘heavy and widespread’ rodent infestation. 

Of the seven, three closure orders were served under the FSAI Act 1998 on Board, 29 Clanbrassil Street Upper in Dublin 8 for the upper story of its building; Mercury Eastern European Food, a retailer in Midleton Business Enterprise Park in Cork; and Giraffe Childcare Limited, Elm Park, Merrion Road, Dublin 4.

Another two closure orders were served under the EU regulations on Chinese Gourmet Restaurant in Oldcastle, Meath for a timber shed in its back yard; and Chrysanthemum in Rathfarnham, Dublin 14. The remaining two orders were prohibition orders. 

A closure order is served where this is likely to be a ‘grave and immediate danger to public health’, according to the FSAI. 

Giraffe Childcare Limited on Merrion Road, Dublin 4, which is one of 22 childcare centres under the brand in the greater Dublin area, had an array of non-conformance to FSAI standards. 

During the inspection, a dead mouse carcass was found under a sink unit in a children’s dining room, as well as in a children’s toilet adjacent to a dining room. A “significant” amount of rodent droppings were found under a sink unit in a children’s dining room, as well as on cleaning equipment in a kitchen cupboard, the closure order stated.

A rodent dropping was found on the floor in a children’s dining room where food was being consumed by children at the time of the inspection. 

“A grave and immediate danger to food safety exists in the food premises due to a heavy and widespread rodent infestation,” the closure report said. 

“Rodents can transmit many harmful pathogens to foodstuffs, contact surfaces and packaging through their droppings and urine.”

In Meath, the Chinese Gourmet Restaurant was served a closure order for the use of an outdoor timber shed, where the restaurant was storing cooked chicken.

At the time of the inspection, an inspector found “uncovered cardboard boxes containing cooked chicken… stored in a timber shed in the back yard of Chinese Gourmet Restaurant,” the closure order said.

“The door of the shed was open. Flies were observed walking on the cooked chicken. Mould was evident on the walls and ceiling of this shed.”

It added that the food was likely to be rendered “unfit for human consumption” and that it posed a “risk to public health.”

Board, a non-alcoholic bar and board games cafe in Dublin, was ordered to close the upper storey of its building after the FSAI inspection found evidence of a rat infestation. 

A dead rodent was found on the shop floor in Mercury Eastern European Food in Cork, as well as large accumulations of rodent droppings throughout the shop on shelving and underneath pallets. There was also evidence of ‘gnawed packaging’ of some food that was on sale. 

An inspection found that the premises at Chrysanthemum in Dublin 14 was ‘not maintained in a clean and hygenic condition’. Raw meat packaging was used to store cooked chicken pieces and vegetables were being prepared in a rear yard, according to the FSAI report. 

Chief executive of the FSAI, Dr Pamela Byrne, encouraged people to contact the FSAI via their online form if they experience unfit food, poor hygiene, or notice a breach of food law in a food business.

“Food safety legislation is put in place to protect the health of consumers and to uphold the standards of the food industry,” she said.

“We strongly encourage food business operators to continuously improve their food safety standards via regular training, availing of online resources, as well as promoting a strong culture of food safety within their businesses.”

Details of the food businesses served with enforcement orders are available here.