“SERIOUS INAPPROPRIATE” HYGIENE practices led to the closure of one popular Dublin restaurant after inspectors found human excrement on and around sanitary facilities for staff.

Namaste Indian Restaurant in Smithfield in Dublin 7 was among eight food businesses who were issued with closure orders by food safety inspectors last month, the latest report details.

Two closure orders were issued for breaches of national regulatory standards, while six others, including Namaste’s, were issued for breaches of European regulatory standards. The Food Safety Authority also issued two improvement orders last month.

An inspector’s report of the Namaste restaurant states that an exam of the property on 25 April found “faecal matter smeared on the wall of the staff sanitary facility, after staff had used it”.

It was also noted that the wall was “stained” from the faecal matter and that a “dirty bottle of hand was soap was available on the sink unit and no paper towels or other means of hand drying”. 

There was also a lack of frequent the handwashing observed during the inspection, in particular during food preparation and handling unclean equipment such as knives and chopping boards.

Utensils were also not property cleaned, the report says, and a handwash basin in the kitchen was used to prepare vegetables on an unclean chopping board during the inspection.

The chef and owner were not wearing clear protective clothing during the preparation of food and there was evidence of grime, grit and debris in all the sinks and on the sponges. There was no evidence that staff were adequately trained either, the report added.

An inspector also found little evidence that food was traced properly at the restaurant, with nothing suggesting to them upon the examination that there was a routine and permanent food safety procedure in place.

“Lack of a good food safety culture will give rise to non-compliances with food legislation, which can pose risk to food safety,” the inspector wrote before signing and approving the closure order.

Mouse droppings in Dublin Café

The two closure orders served under the Food Safety Authority of Ireland Act, 1998 were given to the Greenville Deli in Monkstown and Soul Bakery in Ballymount, in Dublin.

An inspector present at Greenville Deli on 15 April found mouse droppings in a number of locations around the restaurant, including in a cupboard containing milk storages and on the floor of the store room where food was present.

The five other businesses that were issued closure orders under the EU’s Regulations, 2020 were The City Arms Gastro Bar in Waterford, the Tasty takeaway in Limerick, Bojon Spices in Dunboyne, Co Meath, Barne Lodge café in Clonmel, Co Tipperary and Rio Latte Bar in Dublin. 

Two businesses were told to improve their food safety practices, Sancta Maria Nursing Home in Co Meath and retailer Sligo Spice in Sligo.