SICKEN & CHIPS Cockroaches and rodents: Dublin food detective finds that will make your stomach churn

The owner of a takeaway that was shut down after food safety inspectors said they found evidence of a rodent infestation insisted this week that 'food safety' is her primary concern.'

The inspectors said they found the evidence in a 'waste and food storage room' where they also found the ­'carcass of an unknown animal'.

Express Fish and Chips, a takeaway in the Dublin southside suburb of Monkstown, was one of two eateries in the capital shut down by the Food Safety Authority in December after inspectors paid a visit to the premises.

A food hygiene inspection report, obtained by the Sunday World, cited the reason for the closure as "a grave and immediate danger to food safety … due to a significant rodent infestation".

Citing 'evidence' discovered during the inspection, the report said: "A significant amount of rat droppings were present under waste bins and throughout the waste and food storage room on the floors.

"The carcass of an unknown dead ­animal was evident on the floor of the waste and food storage room

"Food packaging and foodstuffs were also stored in the food storage and waste room, leaving them exposed to contamination by rodents."

 

When approached by the Sunday World at the popular eatery this week, owner Xiaohua Wu offered to take our reporter on a tour of the premises to prove it was now in spotless condition.

And she rejected findings in the ­inspector's food hygiene report that the rat droppings and animal carcass had been found in a food storage area - saying the area in question was a waste area and separated by a door from two other rooms where the food packaging was kept.

Ms Wu invited our reporter into the waste area, now spotlessly clean, to prove what she was saying was true.

And she showed our reporter how the bin room was separated from two smaller food storage rooms by a closed door.

She told the Sunday World: "It was in the bin room they found these things.

"We don't put food there.

"It was a different part."

Asked whether she would say her takeaway is clean, Ms Wu said she would.

"You can see that if you just look.

"It was just the waste-room where, in the corner, they found that.

"We have to give good food safety for the customer. That's the first job we have to do."

The closure order was issued on December 17 but lifted four days later.

A second Dublin restaurant shut down by the Food Safety Authority was the DFC Takeaway or 'Dublin Fried Chicken' on Dublin city's Dorset Street.

DFC Takeaway was shut down after the Food Safety Authority reported live cockroaches were found in a bait trap behind a freezer in the restaurant's main food preparation area.

In a food hygiene inspection report, obtained by the Sunday World, a food safety inspector who visited the bustling fast food outlet said: "The detection of cockroaches in the premises has been a persistent issue and concern as evident in previous inspections carried on the 18 June 2021, which resulted in a Closure Order under the FSAI Act 1998, and the 17 August 2021.

"The cockroaches were found in a bait trap located behind a freezer inside the main preparation area where food is stored, handled, prepared and sold ready-to-eat hot."

Outlining the risks to public health carried by the insects, he continued: "Cockroaches are a hazard and whole cockroaches, body parts and faeces and other secretions can contaminate food, equipment, utensils and preparation surfaces.

"They can be vectors of disease, capable of carrying organisms which can cause diarrhoea, gastroenteritis, food poisoning, Salmonella and other serious illnesses in humans."

The inspector was also critical of the takeaway's hygiene standards, stating: "There was no evidence that fittings and equipment coming into contact with food were effectively cleaned and disinfected."

 

During the inspection, he noted a number of cleaning issues including:

"Food debris was encrusted onto the panels and grills at the back of two freezers in the kitchen.

"Encrusted food and grease was noted on cooking equipment surfaces, handles, shelving and legs of said equipment;

"Food debris and grease on the floor beneath cooking and refrigerator ­equipment and also accumulating along floor/wall junctions;

"Shelves in greasy and dusty condition were used for storing foodstuffs and food packaging."

 

He said that the lack of adequate cleaning in the premise was an issue at the previous inspections last June 18 and August 17 and continues to be an issue.

The inspector also noted the presence of "an uncovered and overflowing bin full of dirty food packaging and food waste".

He said: "There was discarded, unclean food packaging stored on top of a freezer adjacent to where live cockroaches were found.

"There were no other waste bins in the premises to store excess waste."

The Sunday World this week called to DFC Takeaway in an attempt to speak to the company's registered owner Ms Kristina Ruszova.

A worker at the takeaway, who identified himself as Ms Ruszova's partner, said that the issues concerning insects at the premises were down to the age and location of the building.

 

"We have some problems with the ­property," he said.

"Things are coming from the old ­structure of the property and that's why, in simple words, flies and ants are coming from the property.

"Those are the main issues. I told them this is the best I can do inside. I said this is my pest control report, this is my every single thing.

Asked about the issues concerning ­hygiene within the takeaway, the worker, who declined to give his name, said: "No, no, you know, they will never be satisfied.

"You have to build our ability and you have to fill in this one and you have to fill in this one," he added.

"We have focused on this for the past while and they are satisfied because they are reopening us.

"If they are not satisfied, how are they going to reopen it. Basically, the main issue is a property issue."

 

The closure order for DFC Takeaway was issued on December 10th and lifted on December 14th.

A total of 59 enforcement orders were issued to food businesses in 2021.

Out of these, 47 restaurants were forced to close temporarily, two called for ­improvements to be made and 10 ­prohibitions orders were issued - requiring the businesses concerned to remove products from the market.

The FSAI said food safety, pest infestation, hygiene and inadequate temperature control in the storage and preparation of food were some of the most common issues encountered by the agency's inspectors.