A Kerry retailer was one of nine nationwide to be served with closure orders by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland during the month of February for breaches of food safety legislation.
The orders, issued by HSE health enforcement officers, included one to Centz Stores 6 Ltd, T/A Homesavers, of Unit 4, Mile Height Retail Park, Tralee which was instructed to cease the sale, packaging and/or processing of all food products on the premises.
Under the terms of the Act, a closure order is served where it is deemed that there is or is likely to be a grave and immediate danger to public health, at or in the premises, or where an improvement order is not complied with. Closure orders can refer to the immediate closure of all or part of the food premises or all or some of its activities.
In relation to Centz Stores 6Ltd, T/A Homesavers, the person in charge was served with a notice that part of the premises be closed due to a failure to comply with a regulation relative to adequate procedures in place to control pests.
The evidence of non-compliance outlined in the notice was that rodent droppings were evident under shelving in the shop floor area of the premises.
The notice also stated that an authorised officer was prevented/obstructed from carrying out an inspection in order to fully determine the nature and extent of a pest infestation and the extent of any contamination of foodstuffs, after establishing, during the inspection, the presence of rodent droppings.
The order was served on February 9 and lifted on February 23.
Food Safety Authority CEO, Dr Pamela Byrne, said consumers must be able to trust that the food they are being served is safe to eat and it is unacceptable that some food businesses fail to fulfil this duty.
“Storage and food preparation areas must be properly cleaned and maintained to avoid potential contamination of food. It is also important that businesses have proper pest control procedures in place and that they are regularly checking that there are no pests in their premises,” Dr Byrne added.
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