Three Moore Street food premises in Dublin hit with closure orders

Three adjoining food premises on Moore Street were temporarily closed in April as the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) served eight closure orders nationwide.

Grocery store Asian Spices Food Market and restaurants Buffet 79 and Chill Out Break Café were all hit with closure orders by the HSE between 5th and 11th April.

Chill Out Break Café was closed for almost a week between those dates, Asian Spices Food Market was closed for three days, and Buffet 79 for four days. No specific reason was given for the notices, which were served under the FSAI Act 1998.

Elsewhere, closure orders were served to three other food establishments in Dublin last month along with two closure orders for restaurants in Wexford.

Jaffa restaurant in Burgh Quay was closed between 27th and 28th April, Anu's Kitchen in Tallaght was closed between the 21st and 27th, and Relish restaurant in Dundrum Village Centre was closed between the 22nd and 25th.

Wok Inn, a Chinese take away in Ferns was closed for a total of nine days between 19th and 27th April.

Lotus in Wexford town had all of its food service and preparation areas, apart from the off-license and shop, closed between 6th and 28th April.

Closure orders are served where there is, or is likely to be, a “grave and immediate danger to public health”, and less serious notices such as improvement and prohibition orders can also be served under food safety legislation.

There have been a total of 24 closure orders served during the first four months of 2016, along with one prohibition order.

Commenting on the figures, FSAI chief executive Dr Pamela Byrne called on non-compliant business owners to clean up their act.

“While the vast majority of food businesses are compliant with food safety and hygiene requirements, unfortunately food inspectors continue to encounter cases where consumers’ health is put at possible risk through negligent practices,” she said.

“There are absolutely no excuses for these breaches of food law. We’re urging all food businesses to ensure that they have a food safety management system in place and that it is consulted and updated on a regular basis to avoid non-compliance issues,” she added.