Closure order served on Navan pizza take-away

A Navan take-away was ordered to close two weeks ago for breaches of food safety legislation following an inspection where environmental health officers found that cooking trays not washed after use and were congealed with grease and charred food particles, while mould growth was visible on the internal surfaces of a milkshake blender.

The closure order was served on Mizzoni Pizza (take-away), 12 Railway Street, Navan, on 27th October and has not yet been lifted.

It was one of five food businesses nationally that were served with enforcement orders during the month of October for breaches of food safety legislation.

The closure order relating to Mizzoni Pizza (take-away) was served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 for persistent and recurring failure to comply with the legislation.

The environmental health officer's report noted: "There was evidence that articles, fittings and equipment coming into contact with food were not effectively cleaned and disinfected after use/end of shift. For example cooking trays were not washed after use and were found to be congealed with grease and charred food particles.

"Pizza dough containers were visibly soiled with food debris/flour residues. Food utensils eg tongs, pizza cutters were encrusted with food residues from the previous night. Mould growth was visible on the internal surfaces of the milkshake blender and a foul odour was detected when the lid was removed."

The report also noted that there was no food allergen management plan in place and that food workers did not understand their role in allergen management and the food safety implications of the presence of undeclared food allergens.

"Measures were not in place to prevent or minimise the likelihood of allergen cross contamination. This was evident through the shared use of fryers/cooking media for cooking foods with different allergen profiles and the lack of cleaning of food contact equipment," the environmental health officer wrote. The risk being that the presence of undeclared allergens in food has the potential to cause a life threatening allergic reaction.

Dr Pamela Byrne, Chief Executive, FSAI, said that the issues resulting in the five Enforcement Orders on food businesses in October related to failures in basic food safety and hygiene requirements, and expressed her disappointment at the absence of food safety culture in some establishments.

“Food businesses must ensure there is a strong food safety culture in place, including adequate training for all staff. This simply must be a top priority for food businesses. Consumers have a right to safe food, and there is a personal responsibility for managers and all employees to comply with food safety legal requirements at all times. Neglecting food safety demonstrates disregard for the well-being of customers and also potentially places their health at an unnecessary risk. There can be zero tolerance for negligent practices that put consumers’ health at risk, and the full powers of food law will be used if a food business is found to be in breach.”