A ROSSCARBERY restaurant was served with a closure order after health officers found signs of rodent activity.
Lily House at South Square was one of five premises nationwide handed closure orders in April for breaching Irish and EU food safety laws.
After inspecting the restaurant on April 24th, a HSE official said in his report the closure came after ‘an active rodent infestation in the food store room and kitchen area where food is stored, handled and prepared’.
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The report said there was evidence of rodent droppings in multiple areas of the food store room and kitchen at the Chinese restaurant.
‘These areas include shelving units to store food, floor and wall to floor junctions under equipment and preparation areas,’ the inspector wrote, adding that rodents were known to spread harmful pathogens such as salmonella via their faeces and urine.
‘Food produced in these conditions is likely to be unsafe and therefore pose a grave and immediate danger to public health,’ the report said. Lily House was contacted for comment.
Meanwhile, a Bandon pizza restaurant has said it has cleaned up its act after a visit from health inspectors.
On March 11th, a part-closure order was enforced at the rear of Eskimo Pizza, St Patrick’s Quay. The takeaway has since reopened and addressed the issues, which included replacing a drainage pipe and door.
‘The room has been fully renovated and refitted. The inspector visited us again and said everything was done correctly. He said the work was excellent and gave us a good review,’ said manager Sajid Maher. ‘
The coverage in the news had a negative effect on our business, but we want to let our customers know that we have improved and are open again.’
Mr Maher said he had received a letter to say he had complied with the conditions of the order for the part closure.
After the initial visit on March 11th, the health inspector said the potato peeling room did not permit good food hygiene practices, with the wash hand basin not in a clean condition, without hot water, soap or any means of drying hands.
At the time, the officer also said there was ‘a thick waste discharge from peeling potatoes covering the entire floor in this room’.
The health officer noted that drainage facilities were not adequate because the discharge pipe from the potato peeler was not fitted to the grey wastewater pipe.
The door to the peeling room was not fitted properly with a visible gap on the base of the door when it was closed, the report said.
Health officers carried out another inspection on March 27th and found that the issues that led to the part-closure order had been addresses.
The closure order was lifted that day.
