Indian restaurant in Offaly served with food safety closure order last month

Cafe India restaurant in Tullamore was served with a closure order last month for breaches of food safety legislation.

The closure order was served on the company secretary of Alif Restaurant Limited, trading as Cafe India, 16 Harbour Street, Tullamore on August 19 last. The order was then lifted on August 21, when the issues that led to the closure were resolved.

The closure order for the Tullamore eatery was one of eight such orders by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) which were served on food businesses across the country during the month of August.

Detailing the reasons behind the closure order served on Cafe India, the report by the inspector representing the FSAI said there was evidence that articles, fittings and equipment coming into contact with food were “not effectively cleaned and disinfected” and that cleaning and disinfection was “not taking place at a frequency sufficient to avoid any risk of contamination.”

The inspector found that food storage containers and the dough mixer were “found to be unclean” and that non-compliances in relation to cleaning had been highlighted, in writing, following three previous inspections.

Three containers of “unlabelled chicken” were found in the under counter fridge and in both freezers on the food premises at the time of the FSAI inspection, while a number of other items were stored “in an external yard and were not protected from the risk of contamination,” according to the report.

The inspection report found that an open container of cream which was in use “was noted to be past it's use by date” and it also found no evidence to demonstrate that the food workers “were trained in food safety commensurate with their duties or in the application of the HACCP (Hazard Analysis & Critical Control Point) principles.”

The inspector said the food workers “demonstrated poor food safety knowledge when questioned.”

Chief Executive of the FSAI, Dr. Pamela Byrne, warned that there is “a legal responsibility” on food businesses to “act responsibly” and ensure the food they provide to their customers is safe to eat.

“We have zero tolerance for any food business that does not comply with its legal requirements” she stated.

The closure order on Cafe India was lifted on August 21, and it was approved to re-open its doors to public on that date.

Enforcement Orders issued by the FSAI are published the FSAI’s website at www.fsai.ie