Second worst year for food closure orders in Ireland

Posted on December 30, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Dead rats, bags of cows’ skins and mold-covered mayonnaise were just some of the reasons for the temporary closure of restaurants and other food outlets this year, according to records released by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland.

Alison Healy of The Irish Times, writes the records, released under the Freedom of Information Act, also show environmental health officers ordered the temporary closure of premises because of filthy kitchens, rat and mouse droppings, and bizarrely, a wellington filled with cigarette ash.

The wellington was found on the premises of Giles Brothers Fish Shop in Phibsborough, Dublin, where an environmental health officer also found a radiator “covered in filthy cigarette ash”. He said the premises had a “history of non-compliance with food legislation”.

The order was lifted a few days later when the problems were remedied.

While final figures are not yet available for this year, it will be the second worst year on record for the number of closure and other enforcement orders issued.

Some 113 orders were served up until December 23rd, compared with 143 enforcement orders in 2013, which was the highest number to date. In 2012, 109 orders were issued.

Dr Bernard Hegarty, the authority’s director of service contracts, said environmental health officers were still finding “shocking conditions” in some premises.

“We’re seeing places where inspectors are finding evidence of pest infestations, of cockroaches, rodents and so on. Really there’s no excuse for that,” he said. “And that’s really not where a business should be if it wants to protect the safety and health of its customers.”

He said there were about 48,000 food businesses in the State “so we are still looking at quite small numbers of breaches” but there was no excuse for these breaches.

Ethnic food businesses accounted for more than half of the orders issued this year. Dr Hegarty said the FSAI was providing training initiatives focusing on sectors such as ethnic restaurants.

New chief executive for Food Safety Authority of Ireland

Posted on December 17, 2014 by Douglas Powell

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today announced that Dr Pamela Byrne has been appointed Chief Executive and will take up office in March 2015, following the retirement of Prof. Alan Reilly.

Dr Byrne is currently Director of Regulatory Policy and Intelligence with Abbott Nutrition. Having previously held senior positions in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, she has extensive experience of the food regulatory environment, as well as expertise in risk assessment and food safety management at both national and international levels.

A native of Cork, Dr Byrne holds a PhD in Environmental Toxicology from University College, Cork (UCC); an MSc in Aquatic Resource Management from Kings College, University of London; a BSc in Zoology from UCC and a Higher Diploma in Environmental Law from the University of Aberystwyth in Wales.

During her time at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Dr Byrne gained a deep knowledge of the food sector as an environmental toxicologist and risk assessor, and was instrumental in developing Ireland’s research and innovation policy programmes in relation to food and the bio-economy. Dr Byrne also worked in the Cabinet of the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation – Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn.

Commenting on the announcement, Prof Michael Gibney, Chairman, FSAI stated that Dr Byrne brings an enormous breath of knowledge and expertise to the role of Chief Executive that will be invaluable in steering the FSAI to maintain its world class status, dedicated to protecting consumers’ health and interests in relation to Irish food.

Chips are down for Limerick take-away after inspection

Posted on December 14, 2014 by Douglas Powell

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) served a partial closure order on Mr Kebab take-away on Kilfinane’s Main Street.

The order, served on November 13, only refers to the rear potato preparation area of the establishment. The order is still in place.

The Limerick Leader asked the FSAI what the problems were with the rear potato preparation area but a spokesperson said they were “precluded by law to disclose any additional information on the nature of the enforcement orders other than outlined in the press release.”

The FSAI reported 11 closure and one prohibition order were served on food businesses during November for breaches of food safety legislation, pursuant to the FSAI Act, 1998 and EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010.

Mr Kebab was the only local one.

Commenting on the continuing high level of enforcement orders, Professor Alan Reilly, FSAI chief executive, warned that food businesses need to be vigilant in relation to food safety at all times, especially in the busy run up to Christmas, to ensure full compliance with food legislation.

“There can be no excuse for putting consumers’ health at risk through negligent practices or ignorance of the law. The legal onus is on all food businesses to ensure that the food they serve is safe to eat.”

Juicing firm among 11 businesses hit with closure orders in Ireland last month

Posted on December 6, 2014 by Douglas Powell

A juicing company which supplies fruit and vegetable juices to health-conscious consumers was temporarily closed last month because of food safety concerns.

Pure Green Juices, in Dublin 15, was served with a closure order at its processing plant in Millennium Business Park, in Dublin 15, on November 7, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) revealed.

The order was lifted on November 10, allowing normal operations to resume.

Pure Green Juices supplies raw fruit and vegetable drinks to customers who want to “detox” their bodies of impurities.

Its manager, Jimmy Burns, said the order had been imposed because the company was expanding and knocking down a wall.

A food safety compliance officer had arrived when the construction work was beginning and imposed the closure order to prevent any possible contamination of the juices.

In total, 11 businesses received closure orders in November, which are imposed when there is deemed likely to be “a grave and immediate danger to public health at or in the premises.”

FSAI chief executive Professor Alan Reilly warned businesses to be vigilant about safety, especially in the busy Christmas period when they are supplying increased volumes of food.

‘Breaches completely avoidable’ 15 food businesses closed in Ireland last month

Posted on November 11, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Eight restaurants across the country were hit by closure orders by Ireland’s food safety watchdog last month.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) issued the orders to nine food businesses in Dublin and one each in Cork, Kerry, Waterford, Tipperary, Wexford and Roscommon.

Commenting on the high level of orders served in October, Professor Alan Reilly of the FSAI, warns that the legal onus is on food businesses to act responsibly and ensure that the food they serve and sell is safe to eat.

“While most food businesses follow high standards and are compliant with food safety legislation, we continue to encounter cases where consumers’ health is jeopardised through a failure to comply with food safety and hygiene requirements. These breaches are completely avoidable when food businesses have proper food safety management systems in place.”

Food safety issues shut Irish shop

Posted on November 8, 2014 by Douglas Powell

A closure order was served on a New Ross shop due to a grave and immediate risk to the public’s health.

Farmpak, located at 68 Irishtown, was visited by environmental health officers, accompanied by Gardaí, on the afternoon of Thursday, October 23 and the premises was closed later that day on foot of a food safety investigation.

Owned by Laurence Murphy, the premises has been operating for a number of years and the area outside the shop is a ‘hang out’ area for teenagers in recent times.

Gayle Carroll, services contract manager with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland said environmental health officers were in attendance on October 23 to serve a closure order. She said the officers operate under contract to the FSAI.

Ms Carroll said the order was served due to a grave and immediate danger to the public’s health.

Commenting on recent closure orders, FSAI chief executive Prof Alan Reilly said that vigilance is always required in relation to food safety and that the legal onus is on food businesses to act responsibly and ensure that the food they serve and sell is safe to eat.

Don’t you eat that yellow snow — or wild mushrooms

Posted on October 15, 2014 by Douglas Powell

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland is advising people not to eat mushrooms they find growing in the wild as the foraging season begins.

Last year, 19 cases of poisoning relating to wild mushrooms were notified to the National Poisons Information Centre. 18 have already been notified this year, involving seven adults and 11 children.

Mushroom foraging can be done safely, but requires expertise in distinguishing poisonous varieties from edible ones.

Cooking poisonous mushrooms does not kill off toxic chemicals contained in the fungus itself, and the results can include nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and even liver failure.

“The high number of cases involving children in particular points to the need for parents and guardians to be vigilant and to teach children not to eat wild mushrooms,” said Ray Ellard of the FSAI.

“In our opinion, websites and books showing visuals of mushrooms are not sufficient to identify safe mushrooms and we would not recommend people to solely rely on these to determine the safety of a wild mushroom.”

‘Food businesses must recognize legal onus is on them to ensure safe food; 14 enforcement orders served on food businesses in Sept. in Oct.

Posted on October 9, 2014 by Douglas Powell

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today reported that twelve Closure Orders and two Prohibition Orders were served on food businesses during the month of September for breaches of food safety legislation, pursuant to the FSAI Act, 1998 and the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010. The Orders were issued by environmental health officers in the Health Service Executive.

Five Closure Orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:

Kebabish Tandoori (restaurant), 39 Lower Clanbrassil Street, Dublin 8

Sami Halal Store (grocery), 63 Upper Clanbrassil Street, Dublin 8

Asian Foods (grocery), Blackrock Market, 19a Main Street, Blackrock, Co. Dublin

Quinns (public house), 42-44 Drumcondra Road Lower, Drumcondra, Dublin 9

Kilcoran Lodge Hotel (excludes sale and service of beverages at hotel bar), Kilcoran, Cahir, Co. Tipperary

Seven Closure Orders were served under the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulations, 2010 on:

KOI (restaurant), Unit 5, 32-36 Main Street, Malahide, Co. Dublin

Slane Bake (bakery), High Street, Slane, Meath

Phoenix House Chinese Takeaway, The Square, Tubbercurry, Sligo

SRM Book and Cook (bakery), Unit 8, Block 3, City North Business Campus, Stamullen, Meath

Juno’s Café, 26 Parkgate Street, Dublin 8

Docks Hotel (closed: all food operations including bar, nightclub and the service of all food and drinks), 15 Craywell Road, John Street, New Ross, Wexford

Palki Indian Restaurant, Bowgate Court, Bowgate Street, Ballinrobe, Mayo

Two Prohibition Orders were served under the FSAI Act, 1998 on:

Sami Halal Store (grocery), 63 Upper Clanbrassil Street, Dublin 8

Quinns (public house), 42-44 Drumcondra Road, Lower Drumcondra, Dublin 9

Also during the month of September, two successful prosecutions were carried out by the Health Service Executive on:

Shangri-La Restaurant, High Road, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal

Station House Hotel, Lower Main Street, Letterkenny, Co. Donegal

Commenting on the high level of Closure Orders served on food businesses in September, Prof. Alan Reilly, Chief Executive, FSAI, states that food businesses need to be vigilant in relation to food safety at all times to ensure full compliance with food regulations.

“The environmental health officers who inspect these food businesses continue to find unacceptable levels of non-compliance with food safety legislation. Time and time again, they encounter cases of food businesses that are potentially putting their customers’ health at risk by not complying with their legal obligations for food safety and hygiene. There is absolutely no excuse for negligent practices,” he says. “Food businesses must recognise that the legal onus is on them to make sure that the food they serve is safe to eat. This requires ongoing compliance with food safety and hygiene standards to ensure the food they are producing is safe to consume all day and every day. Food safety must be paramount.”

Waste management? Food chain must up its game, becoming ‘soft target’ for criminals

Posted on September 26, 2014 by Douglas Powell

There are lots of opportunities for criminality in the food chain which is seen as a “soft target”, the chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has said.

The horsemeat scandal, about which Professor Alan Reilly’s organization raised the alarm last year, was a “wake-up call to Europe that criminals were getting involved in the food chain and were up to no good,” he said.

There are many different ways for criminals to put poor food into the supply such as substandard olive oil being labelled as premium and putting cheap wine into bottles labelled as premium brands, he said.

The length of the food chain means there are lots of opportunities for fraud, he said. If producers are buying their food ingredients from Asia there is no way to check into the plant, he added .

The food industry must “up its game” and take the threat of food fraud and criminal intent “really seriously”, Prof Reilly said. There need to be “robust control systems” for suppliers as have been introduced for meat testing.

Food fraud: Ireland to crackdown on fake honey, fish scams

Posted on May 12, 2014 by Douglas Powell

Fake honey and fish are set to come under the microscope as health authorities across Europe crack down on organized food fraud.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) is also carrying out a fresh round of DNA tests on beef as part of an EU-wide follow-up to last year’s horsemeat scandal.

And FSAI chief executive Prof Alan Reilly told the Irish Independent that honey and fish would also be systematically surveyed in Ireland as part of new EU Food Fraud network attempts to tackle widespread organized crime in the European food chain.

Prof Reilly said food fraud was a huge issue as there was so much money to be made and so many ways to hoodwink consumers.

“There are endless possibilities for fraud and the way to tackle that is to combine intelligence with our European partners in this Food Fraud Network.”

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