Pygmalion and Ritchie mint-maker issued food safety orders after rodents found

The Pygmalion bar in Dublin city centre was one of four food businesses to be hit with a closure order from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) in May.

Inspectors spotted a live rodent and fresh droppings when visiting the popular haunt in the Powerscourt Townhouse Centre off South William Street late last month. This led to a “serious risk” of food being contaminated with pathogenic bacteria likely to render the food unfit for consumption, the inspector said, adding that there were inadequate procedures in place to control pests.

The FSAI said on Thursday that the temporary order against Pygmalion had been lifted on June 2nd after the issues were rectified.

Temporary closure orders were also served under the FSAI Act on Go Go Pizza and Kebab of Whitemill Road, Wexford; confectionary manufacturer HG Ritchie Limited of Inchicore, Dublin 8, which makes Ritchie’s Milky Mints; and Mart Café on Derry Road, Raphoe, Co Donegal.

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At Go Go Pizza and Kebab an inspector said the walls, floors, food and cleaning equipment were “grease-laden, food encrusted and filthy”. There was also an infestation of flies on the premises and mouse droppings in the food preparation area, the report stated.

There was evidence of current internal rodent activity throughout the premises of sweet producer HG Ritchie Limited that risked contaminating food, an inspector said. The report also noted poor structural building maintenance, with a flaking ceiling directly above the production line of moving open foods and mould growth elsewhere.

Grease and food debris encrusted on cookers, fridges and other surfaces, and the lack of a hand washing basin in the staff toilets led to a closure order at the Mart Cafe. The report also also pointed to flies and food waste throughout the kitchen and the lack of allergen labelling.

Partial closure orders, under 2020 European Union regulations, were served on three food companies.

Willis Green Veg, at Glaslough, Co Monaghan, is required to cease using sodium metabisulphite in its food production after samples of certain of its foods from last month detected a level of sulphur dioxide that exceeded legal limits.

Due to its “persistent and recurring failure to comply” with relevant legislation, Milne Foods Limited, in Birr, Co Offaly, must stop processing all ready-to-eat foods at its premises, inspectors said. The report said some unsafe foods containing listeria monocytogenes were placed on the market earlier this year.

The operator did not take sufficient corrective action, namely withdrawing the contaminated foods and notifying applicable authorities, according to the report.

Golden Beach Supermarket, on Dublin’s Parnell Street, will no longer be allowed to prepare and serve food in certain areas of its premises after inspectors spotted “congealed residue” on knives. Foods were also found to be kept at temperatures likely to lead to the growth of pathogens such as salmonella DPP and listeria, the report said.

A prohibition order was served on Bullet Duck & Dumpling, of Mary Street Little, Dublin 7. It must withdraw all food held in its defective cold room, including cooked and raw meat, the FSAI said.

FSAI chief executive, Dr Pamela Byrne, said Irish consumers have a right to safe food. It was “disappointing”, she said, that some food businesses are inadequately monitoring their electric fly killers and, in some cases, preparing food directly beneath them.