Offaly take-away served with food safety closure order

A take-away in Offaly had to shut its doors for five days last month after being served with a closure order by the HSE for breaching food safety legislation.

The order was served on Gianny's take-away, at St Mary's Road, Edenderry, on February 3 last. It was lifted on February 8, after the issues which led to the closure were addressed.

The closure order stated that it was issued on foot of a "persistent and recurring" failure to comply with regulations that are in place to ensure food safety.

Outlining the reasons why the order was issued, the HSE said the take-away's premises was "not kept in a clean condition" and that there was "ineffective and infrequent cleaning of articles and equipment that come into contact with food," which "could pose a risk of contamination of foods".

It was also stated that an inspection of the business found "a saucepan of Taco mince" which was "stored in a refrigerator and was not provided with labelling indicating the date of cooking, therefore it could not be ascertained how long it had been stored for and its shelf life".

The closure order also stated that "food workers and the person in charge of operating this food business" had demonstrated "a lack of understanding and knowledge of basic food hygiene requirements".

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) reported that a total of nine Closure Orders and one Prohibition Order were served on food businesses during the month of February.

Commenting on the closure orders, Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI, said maintaining a clean premises was essential and obligatory for every food business.

"Consumers must be able to trust that the food they are being served is safe to eat and it is unacceptable that some food businesses fail to fulfil this duty. Storage and food preparation areas must be properly cleaned and maintained to avoid potential contamination of food.

"It is also important that businesses have proper pest control procedures in place and that they are regularly checking that there are no pests in their premises. Earlier this month we ran a free webinar on managing and monitoring pest control procedures in food businesses to address this reoccurring issue. This webinar can be accessed on the FSAI website," said Dr Byrne.