A Dublin Chinese restaurant was among over 100 businesses shut down in 2025 after food safety inspectors discovered serious health and safety breaches, it has emerged
Food prepared at a Chinese takeaway was thought to contain “fecal matter,” inspectors found. Quack N Wok in Dublin was among 100 food businesses forced to shut their doors for various health and safety violations in 2025.
Health officers served a total of 127 Enforcement Orders last year. Of these orders, 102 resulted in business closures, 23 were prohibition notices, and two were improvement requirements. December alone saw eight closure orders implemented, including the Quack N Wok in Dublin’s IFSC after health inspectors uncovered serious non-compliance issues.
In their report, health inspectors noted: “The drainage system was not adequate and was malfunctioning. This was likely to result in food and food contact equipment being contaminated with pathogenic bacteria, rendering it unfit for human consumption.”, reports Dublin Live.
Inspectors also discovered that food prepared at the establishment could contain “fecal matter”.
The report stated: “Food, including chicken and duck, was likely to have been contaminated with extraneous matter such as foul water containing faecal matter by the dirty hands and clothing of food handlers who were preparing the food.”
Quack N Wok was closed on December 8 and remains shut.
Also in December, Ella Okonufua received an order to cease operations of her business, which traded as EB Food Essentials Coolanagh, Ballickmoyler in Laois.
Inspectors stated: “The food business operator had not notified the competent authority of this food business establishment with a view to registration of the establishment. Therefore, official controls have not been carried out to verify compliance with food law.”
They also raised concerns about the traceability of the produce. The report further noted that Okonufua was unable to identify the suppliers of certain products, including three boxes of goat meat in the freezer that were in meat-branded boxes labelled as lamb, brisket and silverside flat, three unlabelled white plastic bags containing goat meat and 35 bags of snails imported from Nigeria.
The order was issued on December 10 and has yet to be lifted. In the meantime, Ruby’s Cakes in Durhamstown Castle, Bohermeen, Navan, was closed due to an “active mouse infestation in the premises.”
The closure order was issued on December 11 and lifted on December 15. Reflecting on last year, FSAI chief Greg Dempsey said: “While the total number of Enforcement Orders in 2025 decreased slightly compared to 2024, it is disappointing that we continue to see enforcement action being necessary due to fundamental breaches, such as pest infestations, poor hygiene, unsafe storage of food, inadequate staff training, and the absence of food safety management systems.
“Additionally, we have found instances of unregistered food businesses operating illegally without notifying the competent authority, therefore bypassing essential food safety controls and putting consumers’ health at risk.”