Four food businesses, two of them in Dublin, were ordered to close by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) last month because they posed a threat to public health.
Closure orders were issued by environmental health officers from the Health Service Executive (HSE) on Benny's restaurant in Balbriggan, Co. Dublin; the Adezath Superstore on North Circular Road; the Castle Dargan Hotel in Sligo; and a Roscommon-based chip van.
A Prohibition order was served the Ben Super Food Store in Dublin 7.
A closure order is served when it is deemed that there is or is likely to be a grave and immediate danger to public health due to food practices or conditions at a premises. The order can be lifted if remedial or other work demanded by the officers is carried out.
Prohibition orders are temporary orders which are listed for one month on the FSAI website. They can be applied if a business is found to be selling, storing or producing food that is not fit for human consumption.
Chief executive of the FSAI, Prof Alan Reilly, said enforcement orders undermined consumer confidence, affecting not only the premises involved, but the food industry as a whole.
“It is the responsibility of all food business operators to ensure that their premises are 100 per cent compliant with food safety legislation, in the interests of their customers and their businesses,” he said.