The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) revealed on Wednesday that two food businesses in Ireland were hit with closure orders last month for breaches of food safety legislation.
The closure orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE) as part of the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations.
One of the orders was issued for a Dublin-based business while the other was for a Tipperary-based premises - both businesses have since reopened their doors to the public with the orders having been lifted. The orders were only for part of the activities of the businesses.
Two Closure Orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:
- Xi'an Street Food (take away) (Closed activity: Part of the activities of its establishment were ceased, specifically the cooking of duck spring rolls), 28 Anne Street South, Dublin 2. This order was enforced on September 29 and lifted on October 2.
- Paul Tobin Butchers (Closed activities: the production and processing of all cooked and ready-to-eat food on the premises.), 3 Abbey Road, Clonmel, Tipperary. This order was initially enforced on September 5 and was lifted on September 11.
Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI, said that the issues resulting in the two closure orders in September related to failures in basic food safety and hygiene requirements.
Dr Byrne said: "Consumers have a right to safe food. Under food law, it is the legal responsibility of food businesses to ensure the safety of the food they sell to the consumer is safe to eat.
"All food businesses must establish and regularly review a food safety management system to prevent instances of non-compliance and violations of food safety regulations such as these, which are only imposed when a significant risk to consumer health has been identified or when there are persistent, severe violations of food regulations."
