‘Consumers have a right to know’: lack of traceability criticised over Brazilian hormone beef
Roscommon-Galway TD Michael Fitzmaurice said the traceability should also extend towards the seller's end of the supply chain for imported meat.
It’s likely
Brazilian meat containing hormones, which was sold in Ireland, had already been eaten by the time the alarm was raised here.
Speaking at the Oireachtas Agriculture Committee last week, Food Safety Authority of Ireland chief executive Greg Dempsey confirmed inspectors believed none remained on the market by the time they were notified.
“Our judgment was that it had been sold and consumed,” he said.
Responding to questions from Carlow-Kilkenny TD Peter 'Chap' Cleere, on why it took so long for the issue to be investigated in Ireland, FSAI director Dr Michelle Minihan explained he rapid alert notification first came from the Netherlands on November 20 that some of the implicated beef had gone to Germany.
“It had moved from Germany to Northern Ireland, and the Northern Ireland authorities became aware that the implicated beef had gone there on November 20,” she said.
“Subsequently, on the afternoon of December 12, the Food Safety Authority was notified some of the consignment had come to the Republic. That was when we initiated our actions here."
Responding to further questions, she added: “By the time we were informed of it on December 12 and checks were undertaken in those premises, the meat had already been sold on, there was none left, and it was out of date."
Committee chair Aindrias Moynihan questioned why food inspections were exempt from the kind of transparency seen in other public sectors, asking, “How can people see Hiqa reports for hospitals but not FSAI inspections on food?”
Responding, Mr Demspey said: “In order to undertake the official controls, we have to engage with businesses. They have to open their books to us and share a lot of information... there has to be confidence in both parties, so under the official controls legislation, the information we gather during an inspection cannot be made public.”
Roscommon-Galway TD Michael Fitzmaurice said the traceability should also extend towards the seller's end of the supply chain for imported meat.
“Should the consumer not have the right to know if they ate that beef?” he said.
The core complaint from the farming side, he said, was: “We have two different standards — one for Irish farmers, and one for everyone else,” he said.
Members also challenged the FSAI officials on the issue of food labelling on shelves.
Laois TD William Aird said he was "very sorry to Irish consumers for what is happening at the moment"… "People are busy when they are shopping, and it is only when they go home that they realise what has happened," he said.
He said there would be “total outrage” among the public if they knew the full extent of the issues.
“If the consumers out there knew… if we think there is an outrage with farmers at the moment — there would be a total outrage [if the public knew],” he said.
Mayo TD Paul Lawless said what he had found on shelves was not a minor issue but, in his words, “a litany of food labelling abuse” happening. “Let’s call it what it is,” he said, referencing multiple examples of misleading origin claims.
He stressed consumers were being placed in an impossible position, stating: “It is totally unfair to allow mislabelling to happen… Busy consumers do not have time to scrutinise labels.”
