The chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Dr Patrick Wall, expressed disappointment yesterday that five food businesses have had to be closed down so far this year because of serious breaches of food safety legislation.
The authority said that in January 2002, it had issued five closure orders on four premises in Dublin and one in Cork and one prohibition order in Limerick.
A closure order is served where it is deemed there is or there is likely to be a grave and immediate danger to public health at or in the premises. These orders can refer to the immediate closure of all or part of the food premises or all or some of its activities.
The prohibition order is issued if the handling, processing, storage, manufacturing, distribution or selling of food involves or is likely to involve a serious risk to public health and the effect is to prohibit the sale of the product, either temporarily or permanently.
The closure orders were made against Mr Alan Yeung, Jatovic Ltd, The New Pagoda, Unit 10, Sutton Cross, Shopping Centre, Dublin 13 on January 21st; Mr David Wang, Hua Ren, 8-9 Moore Street, Dublin 1 on January 17th; Fu Jian Zhang, also of Hua Ren, 8-9 Moore Street, Dublin 1 and also on January 17th.
A further closure order was served on Mr Jaswant Singh Walia, Gaylord Raj Ltd, Raj Gaylord Indian Restaurant, Kerrypike, Cork on January 16th. The other closure order was served on Ms Margaret Beter, 19 Moore Street, Dublin 1, on January 10th.
Expressing his disappointment at the issuing of the orders, Dr Wall said he hoped it was not an indication of a potential upward trend this year. "It takes time, effort and money for businesses to build their reputation and a client base, but to be the subject of one of these orders can undo a mountain of good work," he said.
Dr Wall said that every food business had to play its part if consumers were to be reassured that their interests were placed first and shoddy practices eradicated. Most cases involved easily preventable faults.