The Food Safety of Ireland (FSAI) served a total of 96 closure orders to food businesses last year.
According to the authority, the figure was a 19 per cent decrease from 2013, the first such decrease since 2007. Overall, 48,000 inspections were made last year by official agencies.
According to AgriLand, the majority of the closure orders were on the service sector; which is the largest category of the sector. The HSE carried out 92 per cent of inspection on registered food businesses.
Overall inspections have decreased significantly since 2010, as the FSAI is placing an increased onus on carrying out food audits and food safety management systems in larger food businesses and high risk operations.
The FSAI reported this month that 17 enforcement orders were made in the month of July for breaches of food safety legislation.
