Hard to trace Irish pork in Britain

BRITISH consumers are likely to unknowingly eat banned Irish pork products, due to the non-requirement for food manufacturers in the EU to specify the country from which their ingredients are sourced.

Many manufacturers list the EU as the place of origin without detailing which country.

The British Food Standards Agency had on Monday told consumers not to eat products from Ireland or Northern Ireland, but admitted it was difficult to trace imports from Ireland, which totalled 19,000 tonnes in the first half of the year.

According to Bord Bia, fresh product must be clearly labelled as coming from Ireland, but not if pork goes into secondary processing, such as sausages or pies.

Kerry Foods said little of their processed product sold in Britain uses Irish pigmeat — including its Richmond “Irish recipe” sausage, despite the name. But its Bowyers brand did use some Irish pork, and had been withdrawn from the market.