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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Aont\u00fa Cllr. Sarah O\u2019Reilly 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”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The Aont\u00fa councillor said that products like Irish brown onions originated in the Netherlands, and Irish broccoli originated in Spain, and that this is “deeply unsatisfactory”.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“It is wrong that imported vegetables are being passed off as Irish grown. This type of mislabelling <\/a>is unacceptable and needs to be thoroughly investigated to maintain the trust of Irish farmers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Our farmers have to work really hard to ensure that they meet strict QA standards set by Bord Bia <\/a>so that their product is eligible for the QA mark,” Cllr. O’Reilly said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI believe it is deeply cynical of supermarkets to try and fudge the issue of labelling and this is injurious to consumer trust. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n \u201cOnly 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. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The councillor questioned what Bord Bia <\/a>has done about this issue and said that it worries her that the audit process is confidential and not made public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI 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\u2019s systems, and ability to demand accountability,” the councillor stressed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n She has tabled a motion to Cavan County Council which asked DAFM <\/a>to write to Bord Bia. This was passed unanimously.<\/p>\n\n\n \n
Food labels <\/h2>\n\n\n\n