A dead rodent and droppings were discovered in the kitchen of a medical ward in a hospital last month.
A closure order was served on the kitchen of a male medical ward in Our Lady’s Hospital in Navan in Co Meath by the Food Safety Authority.
In another case in Meath, batches of cooked battered chicken were found cooling down outside an Asian restaurant, in cardboard boxes previously used as packaging for raw chicken.
109 enforcement orders were served on food businesses for breaches of food safety legislation last year, an increase of 58 per cent on 2017.