‘Filthy’ Kilkenny chipper shut down because it posed a ‘grave and immediate danger to public health’

THE Blue Door take away restaurant was shut down after food safety chiefs found it posed a “grave and immediate danger to public health”.

The chipper in John Street was one of eight premises around the country hit with closure orders from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).

The FSAI inspectors found the owners of the chipper to be guilty of numerous breaches of the Food Safety Authority Ireland Act 1998.

A copy of the Enforcement Order served on the Blue Door – seen by KilkennyNow.ie – found the “entire food premises” to be in a filthy condition. It said the state of the premises was so bad it would provide “ideal” shelter – and a readily available food source – for rats.

The rear yard of the premises was “in a disorganised dirty condition with obsolete equipment, containers of dirty water and refuse stored in this area providing harbourage for rodents”, inspectors found.

Other damning findings contained in the report included:
*Engrained dirt and food debris on surfaces including floors, walls, ceilings, doors, equipment and other hand contact surfaces;
*Layers of grease coating the walls and equipment in the cooking area;
*Mops and mop buckets were stored outside which were subject to sources of contamination;
*There were no cleaning chemicals on site to effectively clean and disinfect the food contact equipment and surfaces within the food premises;
*Foods were stored in dirty containers and on the floor surface with accumulations of old food debris and dirt present.

The FSAI report concluded that the “overall condition of the premises and manner of operation poses a serious risk of food contamination and presented a grave and immediate danger to public health”.

FSAI chief executive Dr Pamela Byrne said food businesses must operate strict food safety procedures at all times and that they need to be extra vigilant during this busy time of year.

“The reasons for the enforcement orders having to be served are all easily preventable in the first place and food businesses should not allow their standards to slip,” said Dr Byrne.

“All food businesses must ensure that they adhere to a high standard of food safety and hygiene at all times.

“It is also imperative that a proper pest control system is in place and that this is checked very regularly in order to avoid infestations of rodents and insects.

“With the busy Christmas period upon us, food businesses must be especially vigilant to ensure compliance with the law.”