One of Dublin city’s most popular cafés hit with closure order

This was over a 'failure to comply with food legislation'.

In a statement on Tuesday (11 February), The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) revealed that the closure order for the restaurant and café located at 78/79 Grafton Street was issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE).

It was served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020.

Issued on 8 January before being lifted on 17 January, the closure order for Bewley's Café directed that "part of the activities of its establishment be ceased, specifically the use of the vacuum packing machine".

As for the particular reasons for this, the order from the HSE authorised officer stated that there was a "failure to comply with food legislation" relating to the vacuum packing machine on the premises.

Bewley's Cafe on Grafton Street

It reads:

"During the inspection I noted that there was one vacuum packing machine in the premises and upon further investigation it was discovered that raw fish was vacuum packed in the same machine where ready-to-eat foods e.g. egg mayonnaise, were vacuum packed.

"The dual use of a vacuum packing machine for both raw and ready-to-eat foods presents a significant risk of ready-to-eat foods becoming contaminated with bacteria."

It also added: "During the inspection, I noted that there was no documented cleaning and disinfection procedure or a cleaning schedule in place specifically for the vacuum packer.

"In the absence of cross-contamination controls for vacuum packing, I concluded that there was a serious risk of ready-to-eat foods becoming contaminated with bacteria."

The FSAI's website states that closure orders are issued if, in the opinion of the authorised officer, there is or there is likely to be a grave and immediate danger to public health at/or in the food premises.

Closure orders can refer to the immediate closure of all or part of the food premises, or all or some of its activities.

The orders may be lifted when the premises have improved to the satisfaction of the authorised officer.

You can see the full list of closure orders issued to food businesses in January on the FSAI's website right here.