A rodent infestation today forced the closure of all the fresh food counters at a SuperValu shop in Dublin.
The meat, bakery and deli counters at the shop in Walkinstown were closed on Thursday afternoon following an inspection by Health Service Executive working under contract for the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).
All the fresh unpackaged food was removed from the store and aisles were blocked off. A notice in the store blamed an “ongoing maintenance issue”.
The notice said the retailer was “trying our level best to resume normal operations as quick (sic) as possible”.
The closure order was served by the HSE acting under service contract to the FSAI.
However, SuperValu Walkinstown now say the fresh food section has reopened following inspection of the store by the local environmental health officer.
“The temporary closure of the fresh food section was due to a potential issue related to an in-store underground drain and pest control. An extensive number of steps had been taken in-store including a complete full site deep clean by hygiene experts, a survey of the impacted drain, and an expert independent review by an external consultant. We apologise to our customers for the temporary closure,” noted a company statement.
SuperValu’s parent company, Musgrave Group, earlier claimed it had closed the fresh food counters at its Walkinstown store “as a precautionary measure” and said it was “due to a potential issue with a drain in-store and pest control”.
It had said it was “taking all the necessary measures including a complete full site deep clean by hygiene experts, a survey of the impacted drain, and an independent review by an external consultant”.
