A number of restaurants in the South East were issued with food closure orders last month.
A total of nine food businesses were ordered to close in December including three in the South East - in Waterford, Kilkenny, and Tipperary.
The orders were made for breaches of food safety legislation, under the FSAI Act, 1998 and the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020.
Six Closure Orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:
Cork Rooftop Farm Limited (Retailer), 6-7 Cornmarket Street, Cork
Take Away Express, Northgate Street, Athlone, Westmeath
K&Q Snacks Limited (Wholesaler/Distributor), 76 Boyne Road, Dublin Industrial Estate, Glasnevin, Dublin 11
Murphys Fish and Chips, 16 John Street, Waterford
Lam's Asian Cuisine & Eskimo Pizza (Restaurant/Café), Green Street, Callan, Kilkenny
Numidia Café, 31 Richmond Street South, Dublin 2
Three Closure Orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:
Panda Chinese Take Away, Main Street, Clogheen, Tipperary
Asian Express (Take Away), Unit 2, Kish House, Greendale Road, Raheny, Dublin 5
Taro Noodle & Sushi Bar (Restaurant/Café), Unit 2, Kish House, Greendale Road, Raheny, Dublin 5
In Murphy's Fish and Chips in Waterford, the Health Officers reported visual sightings of live and dead cockroaches throughout the food storage and
preparation areas. Cockroaches were also observed in equipment and on walls, floors and ceilings.
In Lam's Asian Cuisine & Eskimo Pizza in Kilkenny the Health Officers reported rat droppings and a decomposed carcass of a rat on the floor under a crate storing opened bags of rice in the basement food store.
They said there was an open drain on the floor of the basement food store that was not pest proofed. Evidence of water
was noted on the ground in this area with the source unknown.
A large number of flies were also observed in the basement food store and opened bags of foods such as noodles, rice, flour and Chinese herbs were observed in the basement food store where flies, rat droppings, and a rat carcass were present.
The premises was reported to not have been maintained in a clean condition as there were black-stained, grease encrusted carpet
surfaces on the stairs leading to the food storage areas and staff toilet on the 1st floor.
Food such as bags of rice, flour, noodles and prawn crackers were stored on floors with dirty carpets in rooms on the 1st floor of the premises and facilities provided for the storage of food were inadequate and could lead to contamination.
In Panda Chinese Take Away in Tipperary the Health Officers reported deposits of dirt, grease and food debris on the main kitchen floor, halls and waal/floor junctions throughout equipment surfaces, the internal surfaces of all fridges, on the surfaces of food containers, the wash hand basin, sinks and draining boards, the work surfaces for preparing food and chopping boards.
Mouse droppings were noted in food preparation and storage rooms also. Insufficient lighting in the dry goods store and in other parts of the premises made it difficult to undertake a complete survey to ascertain the extent of the pest activity.
Several items were reported to be stored on the floor in the rear store room with deposits of dirt and food debris in areas such as wall/floor junctions.
115 closure orders were issued by the Food Safety Authority last year.
The authority says it's seen an increase of 45 per cent in the number of enforcement order issued, compared to 2023.
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