Eight food premises - the majority either Chinese or Indian take-aways or restaurants - were ordered to close by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) in six counties last month.
Three of those ordered to close by environmental health officers for breaches of food safety legislation have since reopened.
Closure orders against Bombay Spice, 404 South Circular Road, Dublin 8; the Happy Chan, 30 McCurtain Street, Fermoy, Cork; Bella Bia, Dublin Road, Ballinagh, Co Cavan; and Ruby King Chinese restaurant and take-away, 5 Roscommon Business Park, Circular Road, Roscommon, were issued under the FSAI Act 1998, as there was , or was likely to be, "a grave and immediate danger to public health".
Orders served on Alis, Main Street, Enniscrone, Sligo; the Punjab Balti, 15 Ranelagh Village, Ranelagh, Dublin 6; China Buffet King, Dundrum Town Centre, Dundrum, Dublin 14; and Treacy's Indiana, The Square, Kilkelly, Co Mayo, were under the EC (Official Control of Foodstuffs) Regulation 2010, where there was a "general non-compliance with food legislation".
Dr Bernard Hegarty, with the FSAI, explained the latter breach was not as serious. The Punjab Balti in Ranelagh reopened five days after it had been served with a closure order.
Bella Bia in Co Cavan reopened 13 days after it has been served with an order, while the Ruby King in Co Roscommon reopened two days after it has been served.
The others remain closed. Bombay Spice in Dublin was closed in August and had reopened to be served with another order in September.
Dr Hegarty said the authority had noted the predominance of ethnic food outlets among the closure orders and said this may due to a number of factors, including unfamiliarity of staff with European hygiene standards.
"It can be an issue of cooking styles. But it is also an issue of management's lack of commitment to a food safety system. Sometimes smaller premises have not put the resources into food safety."
Prof Alan Reilly, chief executive of the FSAI, said vigilance was always required and standards must not slip to such levels that consumer health is put at risk. "We are also conscious of the diversity of food workers in Ireland," said Prof Reilly.
The FSAI has published a "Safe Food to Go" booklet in eight languages and information on food labelling in ten languages. It also provides specialised food safety training for the Chinese food sector, delivered by Chinese nationals, and has developed an induction training programme for in-house training of all employees which includes a multi-lingual DVD.
Prof Reilly urged all food-service business to take full advantage of information and support available from the FSAI.
