The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) has been called upon to investigate food labels in supermarkets to ensure that customers are not misled into buying Irish produce.
Aontú Cllr. Sarah O’Reilly said that there has been “several incidents” where products were falsely advertised on food labels as having the Bord Bia Quality Assurance (QA) mark, and that Irish farmers “must be protected”.
The Aontú councillor said that products like Irish brown onions originated in the Netherlands, and Irish broccoli originated in Spain, and that this is “deeply unsatisfactory”.
“It is wrong that imported vegetables are being passed off as Irish grown. This type of mislabelling is unacceptable and needs to be thoroughly investigated to maintain the trust of Irish farmers.
“Our farmers have to work really hard to ensure that they meet strict QA standards set by Bord Bia so that their product is eligible for the QA mark,” Cllr. O’Reilly said.
“I believe it is deeply cynical of supermarkets to try and fudge the issue of labelling and this is injurious to consumer trust.
“Only Quality Assured produce, grown and packed in the Republic of Ireland can carry the Origin Ireland logo and this must be strictly observed,” she added.
Food labels
The councillor questioned what Bord Bia has done about this issue and said that it worries her that the audit process is confidential and not made public.
Bord Bia receives “significant funding” from the DAFM and Cllr. O’ Reilly has urged that the department satisfy themselves that systems are “adequate” across all sectors.
“I believe in full transparency and disclosure as it builds trust between all stakeholders. It is vitally important that consumers and farmers have confidence and trust in Bord Bia’s systems, and ability to demand accountability,” the councillor stressed.
She has tabled a motion to Cavan County Council which asked DAFM to write to Bord Bia. This was passed unanimously.