Three commercial outlets were ordered to close last month because of unhygienic conditions, the Health Inspectorate Service said this afternoon.

The outlets were Café Rouge, Msida; and Toscanella and Amazon House in Qormi.

The Service also said that during February, 111 boxes of confectionery goods were destroyed following a voluntary withdrawal from the market. Also destroyed were 3,392 kgs of seeds used in food production, 106 kgs of meat, 26 kgs of cheese, 75 kgs of confectionery goods, and 50 litres of energy drinks.

Last month, 310 notices pointing out deficiencies, were served on establishments after surprise inspections.

Two contraventions were issued against food business operators, one for failing to respect an undertaking to improve premises and another for exposing food to risk of contamination. Another four non-food operators were warned about defective drains.

The inspectorate said that during February is received 301 complaints relating to environmental health issues and 66 regarding food safety issues. The most common environmental health related complaint was regarding pest infestation (86 complaints), followed by infiltration of water (64 complaints), drainage overflow (27) and accumulations of refuse (22).

The most common food safety complaints were alleged unhygienic premises (19), followed by alleged unfit food (13), improper labelling of food (13) and four complaints regarding storage of food.

The inspectorate can be contacted on 21337333.

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