Three businesses were closed last month for breaches of food safety laws.
Environmental health officers issued closure orders on Rezmerita Plus Ltd supermarket trading as Polonez,(Delicatessen and Butcher area only), Athlone Shopping Centre, Athlone, Co Westmeath, on the Wok In take-away, 9 Captains Hill, Leixlip, Co Kildare and on the Burger Hut Foodstall, Knockcroghery, Co Roscommon.
Two other businesses were issued with improvement orders. They were Roma Take Away, 4 Lower Kennelsfort Road, Palmerstown, Dublin 20 and Bassetts at Woodstock restaurant, Woodstock, Inistioge, Co Kilkenny.
Food Safety Authority of Ireland chief executive Prof Alan Reilly urged all 49,000 food businesses in Ireland to make food safety and hygiene a key priority this year. He said most enforcement orders were served as the result of “easily preventable errors”.
These included dirty premises and unhygienic practices, all leading to a variety of potential food safety hazards such as contamination of food, cross-contamination from raw to cooked foods and improper storage of food.
“Consumers need to feel confident that the food they are purchasing is safe to eat and every single enforcement order served undermines that confidence,” he said.