During the month of June 2012 seven Closure Orders were served on Irish food businesses and the Health Service Executive successfully prosecuted a Chinese restaurant in County Mayo. Each of these businesses will have incurred potentially significant, expenditure to remedy the breaches of legislation. The interruption to normal business activities caused by premises being closed will result in loss of income. The subsequent publicity in local and national media and on the Food Safety Authority of Ireland website will have caused reputational damage which, although difficult to quantify, could lead to loss of custom.
Owners, managers and staff need to work hard to repair the damage caused to their food business. These figures only relate to the reported cases. Each month many food businesses receive unfavourable inspection reports requiring them to take action to improve the way they operate.