Closure order served on County Roscommon business

A County Roscommon business has been served with a closure order.

D Candy, a business located on Main Street in the heart of Roscommon Town was ordered to close its premises on April 19th by the HSE.

This comes as the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today (Thursday) reported that 21 closure orders were served on food businesses during the month of April for breaches of food safety legislation, pursuant to the FSAI Act, 1998 and the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020.

The Closure Orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE).

D Candy was closed under the FSAI Act, 1998 with the closure order issued on April 19th.

Some of the reasons for the Closure Order on the Roscommon business include adequate procedures not being in place to control pests, adequate facilities had not been provided for the cleaning and disinfecting of food storage areas and equipment while the walls were in a poor state of structural repair with extensive dampness, mould growth and flaking paint.

Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI, said that the high number of Closure Orders needing to be served in April is alarming. “Twenty-one Closure Orders served in one month is the highest number since November 2019, when the same number were also issued. Amongst the reasons for the Closure Orders in April, a lack of adequate procedures to control pests was frequently cited. This resulted in evidence of widespread mice and cockroach activity, which leads to a serious risk of food being contaminated and poses a grave and immediate danger to public health.

“Food businesses must ensure that their food business is properly pest proofed, and that they take effective action if there is a pest infestation. Each month, we issue the list of Enforcement Orders as a deterrent, but it seems that last month, food safety fell off the list of priorities for quite a number of food businesses.

“Consumers have a right to safe food and food safety must always be a top priority for food businesses. There are no excuses. Food safety is a legal requirement for all food businesses,” she said.