Creche among list of 7 businesses shut by FSAI after droppings & mice found

A NUMBER of enforcement orders were served on businesses in Ireland during the month of June – and a creche is among them.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) released a report detailing the closures.

Seven food businesses were closed for breaches of food safety legislation under the FSAI Act, 1998 and the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020.

The Orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE).

One of the closures was even served to a children’s creche in Dublin.

The Giraffe childcare facility at Elm Park on Merrion Road was served with a closure order over “a grave and immediate danger to food safety”.

It was as a result of “a heavy and widespread rodent infestation”.

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

There was also a dead mouse found under a sink and another in a children’s toilet beside the dining area.

In a statement to RTÉ’s News At One, Giraffe childcare said it had “notified environmental health of mice activity in and around the Elm Park centre, due to disturbance by adjacent building works.”

It agreed to close the centre for five days to allow for three clear pest control reports.

Children were relocated to other Giraffe centres, before it reopened on Monday June 17.

Under the FSAI Act of 1998, two other closure orders were served on the following:

• Board, 29 Clanbrassil Street Upper, Dublin 8 – The Upper storey of the building was closed on June 14 after health officials found evidence of a rat infestation in the store room and kitchen (service sector). It was reopened on June 17.
• Mercury Eastern European Food, Unit 25, Midleton Business Enterprise Park, Dwyer Road, Midleton, Cork was closed on June 13 after a dead rodent was found under pallets on the shop floor where food was displayed. It was reopened on June 25.

Two Closure Orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:

• Chinese Gourmet Restaurant, The Square, Oldcastle, Meath – the use of the outdoor timber shed in the back yard of the restaurant was shut for the storage/ handling of any open food or food contact materials on June 27 as flies were seen walking across cooked chicken stored in the shed and mould was found on the roof. It remains closed.
• Chrysanthemum (restaurant/café), Unit 1 Old Orchard Inn, Butterfield Avenue, Rathfarnham, Dublin 14 was shut on June 11 after inadequate pest proofing was observed. Contamination of food was found by inspectors, including the use of raw meat packaging to store cooked meat. It reopened on June 13

Two Prohibition Orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020:

• Johnson Best Food African Take Away, 86 Summerhill, Dublin 1 was closed down on June 11 and remains shut. There was no proper labelling or other identification to facilitate traceability for food. 
• The Roadhouse (public house), Clongowney, Mullingar, Westmeath was shut on June 11 and remains closed. Frozen raw meat found stored in a chest freezer on the premises could not be traced.

During May and June, two prosecutions were taken by the HSE over:

• Mean Greens Vegan Kitchen Stall, Ballysax Hills, The Curragh, Kildare were prosecuted under the EC (Hygiene of Foodstuffs) Regulations 2006. Costs awarded were €2000 and fines imposed were €2,500
• Griolladh 2 Stall, Ballysax Hills, The Curragh, Kildare were prosecuted under the EC (Hygiene of Foodstuffs) Regulations 2006. Costs awarded were €3,000, while fines imposed totalled €4,000.

Dr Pamela Byrne, the Chief Executive of the FSAI, emphasised the legal obligation that food businesses have to comply with food safety legislation in the interest of public health.

She said: “Consumers have a right to safe food. Under food law, it is the legal responsibility of food businesses to ensure that the food they sell to the consumer is safe to eat.

“If anyone experiences unfit food, poor hygiene standards or notices a breach of food law in a food business, we encourage them to contact us via our online complaint form at www.fsai.ie/makeitbetter. 

“Reporting inappropriate and unsafe food practices provides us with information that we can act upon.

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

“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.”