Cork restaurant closed after chicken found thawing on a dirty floor

A CORK city restaurant has been hit with a closure order by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland after an inspector discovered frozen chicken thawing on a dirty floor.

The Freestyle Asian Restaurant on North Main Street was among six food businesses to be issued with closure orders in April. A report on the premises from the FSAI listed a number of areas which raised concerns during the inspector’s visit.

The report noted: “There was a lack of control over thawing of food on site leading to an increased likelihood of bacterial growth which could cause food poisoning. A bag of frozen chicken fillets was noted thawing on the dirty floor underneath the mechanical dishwasher.”

The report also highlighted a lack of documented evidence of staff training in basic food hygiene and a lack of a food safety management system in place for the business.

It added: “There was no evidence of monitoring of food temperatures.”

The report gave an example of a large amount of food being stored in the hot hold units at temperatures between 40C and 63C, while chilled salad items were stored in display units with temperatures of between 5C and 14C.

According to the report, there was also a risk of cross-contamination in the kitchen. It elaborated: “There is no safe workflow within the kitchen, and the same utensils and equipment were used for both raw and ready to eat preparation.

“Raw squid tubes, partially cooked spring rolls, Chinese leaf lettuce and prawn toast were stored on the raw meat preparation surface in the extremely warm kitchen for the duration of the inspection. There were poor storage practices noted between raw/partially cooked and ready to eat food. Designated areas were not being adhered to for preparation of raw and ready-to-eat foods.”

All food preparation and food storage areas had a “build up of food debris and were greasy to the touch”

There was also a build-up of food debris and “stagnant foul-smelling wastewater within the raw meat fridge,” added the report.