A RECORD NUMBER of closure orders were issued for food businesses last month, including popular Dublin eateries and a restaurant run by a celebrity chef.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland issued 21 closure orders on food businesses in April for breaches of food safety legislation. Fifteen were issued under Irish laws and a further six were issued under European laws.

One prosecution was taken by the HSE in the month in relation to Kenmare Brewhouse Ltd, in Kenmare, Co Kerry, which resulted in a €500 fine and €1,600 awarded to the HSE.

Among the closures order was popular Dublin eatery Musashi, located on Capel Street in Dublin City Centre. Bites By Kwanghi – operated by Irish celebrity chef Kwanghi Chan – was also issued with a closure order. Both have since reopened.

A total of five premises in Dublin’s Moore Street Mall were also issued with closure orders, as were the kitchen and storage areas in All Bar Chicken on Nassau Street and the Uptown Restaurant in Killarney.

The fifteen food businesses served with closure order under the FSAI Act (1998) are:

• Ginger Lillies Chinese Restaurant, 18 Mulgrave Street, Limerick
• Medina Kebab (Lets Eat) (Take away), 329 Blarney Street, Cork
• Georgian Delight (service sector), Kitchen 3, 58-66 Parnell Street, Moore Street Mall, Moore Street, Dublin 1
• Sabor Nordestino (restaurant/café), 58-66 Parnell Street, Moore Street Mall, Moore Street, Dublin 1
• Spicy Bite (restaurant/café), Unit 1, Moore Mall, Moore Street, Dublin 1
• Mroz (retailer), Moore Street Mall, Moore Street, Dublin 1
• Smaczne.Go! (restaurant/café), Moore Street Mall, 58/66 Parnell Street, North City, Dublin 1
• D Candy (retailer), Main Street, Roscommon
• Uptown Restaurant, Old Milk Market Lane, Killarney, Kerry
• Payless Grocery & Meat, 46 Port Road, Letterkenny, Donegal
• Bites By Kwanghi (restaurant/café), Capital Dock, 83 Sir John Rogerson’s Quay, Dublin 2
• Fresh (restaurant/café), Capital Dock, 4-5 Stephens Walk, Dublin 2
• Musashi Noodles and Sushi (restaurant/café), 15 Capel Street, Dublin 1
• All Bar Chicken (Closed area: the kitchen and storage areas) (restaurant/café), 47 Nassau Street, Dublin 2
• Fortune Terrace (restaurant/café), 46-49 O’Connell Street Upper, Dublin 1

The six food businesses closed under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 were:

• Chicking (restaurant/café), Unit 3, O’Boyce’s Corner, Port Road, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal
• Fitzpatrick Castle Hotel (Closed areas: the operations from Albert & Behan Kitchen, PJ’s Kitchen and Mapas Kitchen – the serving of beverages from the bar area is not affected by this closure order), Killiney Hill Road, Killiney, Co. Dublin
• Café Brazil (retailer), 63 Thomas Street, Dublin 8
• The Ballsy Baker (Closed activity: preparation production and sale of food product with the claim ‘Nut Free’ and ‘Gluten Free’, and internet sites or social media sites it operates promoting and advertising the sale of food with these claims) (retailer), 10 Saint Mochtas Lawn, Clonsilla, Dublin 15
• Oriental Pantry (retailer), 22-23 Moore Street, Dublin 1
• Pastel King (restaurant/café), 22-23 Moore Street, Dublin 1

Reasons for closures

There was a wide variety of reasons the Closure Orders, including rodent and cockroach infestation, evidence of rodent droppings, and poor hygiene standards, among others.

Musashi  

According to the inspector’s report, Musashi was issued with a closure order on 15 April which was lifted on 18 April. The inspector discovered that the foul drain serving the kitchen in the basement was malfunctioning and leaking. From the report:

“This had resulted in dirty water spraying onto food (including prawns), food preparation surfaces, food workers handling food and onto the kitchen ceiling where it was dripping down into the food preparation area where high risk, ready to eat foods including salad is prepared. Staff confirmed that the drain had been malfunctioning in this manner for an extended period (3 months+). 

These conditions provide a direct opportunity for pathogenic bacteria likely to be present in the dirty water, to enter food, rendering it unsafe. This poses a grave and immediate risk to public health.

Bites by Kwanghi 

Bites by Kwanghi was issued with a closure order on 16 April and reopened two days later. The inspector’s report found that there was insufficient rodent proofing evident in the premises, and fresh mouse droppings and rodent activity were discovered in a number of areas. From the report:

“These conditions lead to a serious risk of food being contaminated with pathogenic bacteria likely to render the food unfit for human consumption.”

Moore Street Mall Restaurants 

A total of five premises were were issued with closure orders in the Moore Street Mall in Dublin’s north inner city. Of these, three remain closed. The reasons for all the closures had to do with evidence of the presence of mice and cockroaches in the food preparation areas. 

All Bar Chicken, Nassau Street

All Bar Chicken’s kitchen and storage area was closed on 12 April and reopened on 16 April. The reasons for the closure were the significant amounts of rat faeces discovered in the kitchen and the fact that the area was not kept clean. Among other issues, the inspector noted:

“There was a significant build up of food debris, grease and rodent faeces at wall-to-floor junctions in the kitchen. There was no cleaning chemicals such as anti-bacterial kitchen spray to disinfect the food preparation surfaces.”

Commenting on the closures in a statement, Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive of FSAI said:

:Each month, we issue the list of Enforcement Orders as a deterrent, but it seems that last month, food safety fell off the list of priorities for quite a number of food businesses.

Consumers have a right to safe food and food safety must always be a top priority for food businesses. There are no excuses. Food safety is a legal requirement for all food businesses.

Other reasons for the Enforcement Orders included:

• mouse droppings in multiple food areas;
• heavy rodent and cockroach activity;
• the sale of food with the claim ‘nut free’ or ‘gluten free’ in a premises that contains tree nuts and peanuts;
• premises not kept in a sufficiently hygienic condition;
• evidence of altering the ‘use by’ dates and batch numbers on food and providing false labels on food;
• walls of an establishment in a poor state of structural repair with extensive dampness, mould.