Unclear food labels not acceptable

Sunday morning at the red meats fridge in my local supermarket, I carefully study the list of ingredients written on the back of a tray of pre-packed diced beef.

I replace the non-organic supermarket’s own brand, and pick up a similar priced organic tray of diced beef, also carrying the supermarket’s own brand.

“This is rather odd,” I’m thinking to myself.

Both packets are clearly marked as “diced beef” on the front, yet there’s a list of ingredients on the back for something else.

The supermarket’s non-organic own brand has the Bord Bia quality assurance mark, while the organic one is marked “Irish”, with a further label saying it is “Certified organic”.

The organic product doesn’t have a Bord Bia label.

But why do both trays, of what to me is obviously diced beef, list the ingredients of beef burgers?

Why doesn’t either ingredient label say something like “100% lean diced beef“, that’s what’s obviously in the box.

Instead, I read on the supermarket’s own brand non-organic tray a list of ingredients for beef burgers, for beef grill steaks, and for meatballs, plus their associated allergen information.

The own brand organic product lists ingredients for beef burgers. How can this be?

I pick up some more trays and find they all say the same thing. Must be a packaging error, I’m thinking. After all, to the best of my knowledge, lean diced beef doesn’t contain either E300 or sodium metabisulphite.

Confused, I call the manager and he takes my concerns on board. He asks do I wish to file a complaint. “More a query,” I reply.

Ten minutes later, with the necessary form filled out and signed, I head home with both trays in my bag.

I’m wondering what’s the point of all the paper work and standards required at farm level, if the housewife or house husband is left, like me, wondering what exactly is in the box on the supermarket shelf.

My observation and experience as a shopper said it was lean diced beef, but with no accurate ingredients label to guide me, I didn’t know if there were additives or preservatives present.

The more I thought about it, the more annoyed I became, because I think this “error” reflects poorly on the industry as a whole.

In due course, I receive correspondence from the supplier of the organic product, that explained: “There is only one product in the organic beef range that contains ingredients other than beef, and this is the beef burgers. We are legally required to declare all the ingredients in this product, and this is why we have the ingredients listed for this product.”

“Fascinating” as Mr Spock of Star Trek might say, but I am no wiser.

I next contacted the Organic Trust, and in due course receive a reply that says my query is being investigated as a matter of urgency with the statutory labelling authorities.

I follow up with a phone call to the supermarket’s suppliers, again I’m told my query will be investigated.

So, while us farmers are regulated to death while doing all the difficult work, how can we have confidence in the system when the people who put the labels on the supermarket boxes don’t seem to be able to list what’s in the box with clarity.

Would our international reputation stand up if consumers abroad discovered that some of what we list on our packaging at home isn’t “what it says on the tin”?