Call for beef label of origin in catering
Agriculture and Food Minister Joe Walsh said this is an area which requires attention.
“At the very least, catering establishments should be required to indicate to their customers whether the beef being offered is of EU or non-EU origin,” he said.
The whole area of beef labelling is due to be discussed shortly in the Council of Agriculture Ministers after the EU Commission presents a report on the system.
Mr Walsh said he would be pursuing as a priority in the Council, the question of extending the labelling regulations to include the catering sector.
Minister Walsh was speaking in Dublin after the Consumer Liaison Panel (CLP) presented him with its first annual report.
IFA President John Dillon has endorsed the call in the consumer panel report to the Minister for Agriculture for the proper labelling of beef by origin at all catering outlets.
“This issue deserves more urgent attention than it is currently being given by the EU authorities,” he said.
“The issue of unidentified imported beef being used in the catering trade has been highlighted by the IFA for some time and is the subject of a current DNA testing programme by the IFA in a random sample of hotel and restaurant outlets.”
Mr Dillon pointed out that imports of non-EU beef, mostly from Brazil, have trebled in recent years and there is a serious problem of imported beef being passed off as Irish in the hotel, restaurant and catering sectors.
“There is an urgent requirement for identification and labelling regulation to protect the interests of both Irish producers and consumers,” he said.
Noting that food labelling is a complicated and broad based area, Mr Walsh said his primary aim is to protect consumer interest and to ensure they are properly informed.
Mr Walsh said Ireland exports 85% of its food products and understandably in an open economy it also has a considerable volume of imports.
In this context, he said it was imperative that the same standards are applied to the labelling of foods in every sector and that there is a level playing field for the food industry Mr Walsh said the CLP had rightly identified food labelling as an issue of concern to consumers. This led to the establishment of the Food Labelling Group and to priority attention being accorded to labelling to ensure that consumer concerns and requirements are fully met.
Mr Walsh said responsibility for general food labelling has been transferred from the Department of Enterprise and Employment to the Department of Health and Children.
This move provides the main plank to ensuring the centralisation of enforcement of all labelling regulations in the Food Safety Authority.
