asked the Minister for Health what food hygiene control is exercised over the operation of mobile vehicles from which cooked food is sold in the Dublin area.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Food Hygiene Control.
3.
Provision is made in the Food Hygiene Regulations, 1950, in relation to all vehicles from which food is offered for sale. These provisions set out in considerable detail the requirements necessary to ensure that every reasonable precaution is taken to prevent danger to the public health arising from the food business carried on in connection with the vehicle and to prevent the contamination of food sold from it. They include such matters as a requirement that the vehicle shall be soundly constructed and kept in a proper state of repair and in a clean and hygienic condition, that chipped or cracked containers or utensils should not be used in contact with food, that waste and garbage should, until destroyed, be kept in suitable containers, that only wrappers of suitable material are used and a number of other relevant matters in relation to the hygienic operation of the food business. For further details in respect of these matters I would refer the Deputy to Article 26, in particular, of the Food Hygiene Regulations, 1950.
I am informed by Dublin Health Authority that vehicles from which cooked food is sold in the Dublin area are inspected by the authority's health inspectors to ensure compliance with the requirements of the Food Hygiene Regulations.