Health « Thurles Information

Strike Action By Health & Community Care Workers Averted.

A promised strike by some 5,000 community healthcare staff and social care workers from 19 organisations has been averted, following an 8% pay offer made, after long drawn out talks, late last night.

Workers at Daughters Of Charity Child and Family Service, DePaul Ireland, Ardeen Cheshire Ireland, Ability West, Co-action West Cork, Cobh Hospital, Don Bosco Care and Enable Ireland, Family Resource Centres, the Irish Wheelchair Association, Kerry Parents and Friends, St Catherine’s Association, St Joseph’s Foundation, St Luke’s Nursing Home, and the Western Care Association were all due to hold future stoppages.

Talks between the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth, the Department of Health and the ICTU group of unions, have now agreed to recommend that the new pay offer be accepted, same having been brokered at the Workplace Relations Commission.

The new deal will include a 3% pay rise backdated to April 1st 2023; another 2% on November 1st 2023 and a further 3% on March 1st also this year.

Further discussions on a key demand to link pay to public servant’s wages are also proposed as part of this agreement, with the government acknowledging that workers pay in section 39, section 56 and section 10 organisations had fallen behind equivalent and comparable grades in public service organisations.

The Workplace Relations Commission will now convene the parties, to the agreement, before December 1st, 2023

Food Safety Authority Ireland Recall Batch Of Irish CBD Oil.

Food Safety Authority Ireland Recall Batch Of MountainGrown.ie Irish CBD Oil, due to the presence of unsafe levels of Delta‐9‐tetrahydrocannabinol (THC).

Product Identification: MountainGrown.ie Irish CBD Oil; pack size: 10ml, 20ml and 30ml
Batch Code: 2-1; best before: 10-23
Country Of Origin: Ireland

The above batch of MountainGrown.ie Irish CBD Oil is being recalled due to the presence of unsafe levels of delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (∆9THC) in excess of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) acute reference dose.
THC can produce serious adverse effects including tachycardia (medical term for a heart rate over 100 beats a minute) and anxiety. These effects can be especially pronounced in women.

Action Required by Manufacturers, Wholesalers, Distributors, Caterers & Retailers:
All are requested to remove the implicated batch from immediate sale and display, placing recall notices at point-of-sale, while consumers are advised not to consume contents of the implicated batch.

Food Safety Authority Ireland – Food Allergen Alert.

Presence of egg in a batch of Bakery Bites Coconut Bites.

Alert Summary

Allergy Alert Notification: 2023.A26
Allergen: Egg
Product Identification: Bakery Bites Coconut Bites; pack size: 170 g.
Batch Code Best before date: 02.06.2024
Country Of Origin: Ireland

Egg was detected in the above batch of Bakery Bites Coconut Bites. The product is labelled as egg free and egg is not declared on the list of ingredients.
This may make the affected batch unsafe for consumers who are allergic to or intolerant of egg.

Toxic Waste Slime Licker Candy Recalled Due To Possible Choking Hazard.

Product Identification: Toxic Waste Slime Licker Sour Rolling Liquid Candy; pack size 57 ml EAN: 898940001016
Country Of Origin: USA

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland warn that the product “Toxic Waste Slime Licker Sour Rolling Liquid Candy”, is being recalled, because of a real possibility that the rolling ball may detach, which could in effect cause choking.
The implicated products can be identified by their barcode, (EAN: 898940001016).

A recall notices will now be displayed at all points-of-sale.

Action Required by manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, caterers and retailers:
Retailers are requested to remove the implicated batches from sale, and to display recall notices at point-of-sale.

Advice To Consumers:
Consumers are advised not to eat the implicated batches.

Closure Order Served On Tipperary Butcher Relating To Processed Food On Premises.

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) today reported that two ‘Closure Orders’ were served on food businesses during the month of September, one of which was in Clonmel, Co. Tipperary, for breaches of food safety legislation, pursuant to the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020. The Closure Orders were issued by Environmental Health Officers in the Health Service Executive (HSE).

Two Closure Orders were served under the European Union (Official Controls in Relation to Food Legislation) Regulations, 2020 on:
(1) Xi’an Street Food (take away) (Closed activity: Part of the activities of its establishment be ceased, specifically the cooking of duck spring rolls), at No. 28 Anne Street South, Dublin 2
(2) Paul Tobin Butchers (Closed activities: the production and processing of all cooked and ready-to-eat food on the premises. This Closure Order does not affect the sale of raw meat), At No. 3 Abbey Road, Clonmel, Co. Tipperary

Some of the reasons for the Closure Orders in September include; repeat failure to cook duck spring rolls thoroughly; food safety management procedures were not implemented; significant build-up of food debris, spillages and engrained dirt on the floor in the cooked/ready-to eat foods preparation area; the layout and size of the premises did not permit adequate separation between raw and ready-to-eat food handling operations; no designated sink was provided for washing food such as the vegetables used in the preparation of ready-to-eat coleslaw.

Commenting, Dr Pamela Byrne, (Chief Executive, FSAI), said that the issues resulting in the two Closure Orders in September related to failures in basic food safety and hygiene requirements.

“Consumers have a right to safe food. Under food law, it is the legal responsibility of food businesses to ensure the safety of the food they sell to the consumer is safe to eat. All food businesses must establish and regularly review a food safety management system to prevent instances of non-compliance and violations of food safety regulations such as these, which are only imposed when a significant risk to consumer health has been identified or when there are persistent, severe violations of food regulations,” said Dr Byrne.