‘Integrity’ vital as sales of organic food hit €66m

SALES of organic food in Ireland are €66 million a year and rising, as consumers place their faith in produce free of pesticides and in meat reared naturally.

Yet, consumers could be forgiven for wondering what kind of quality controls are in place, especially given the higher prices they have to pay for organic food.

The first way of checking home-grown produce and meat is to ensure that the food has a label or stamp from one of the three organisations legally allowed to approve organic food in Ireland: the Irish Organic Farmers and Growers Association (IOFGA), Demeter and the Organic Trust.

The Organic Trust approves 400 of Ireland’s 1,200 organic farmers and food makers, carrying out regular and spot checks to ensure full compliance with European Union standards.

“Trust and integrity are very important to us, so the inspection and certification process is very comprehensive,” said Trust general manager Helen Scully.

“Our inspectors go out and inspect every single aspect of production, so, if it’s beef, for example, then they’d ensure the feed was organic and they’d also look at animal welfare.

“Every aspect from field to plate is inspected and certified; mandatory inspections take place once a year and then there are also unannounced ones.”

Demand for organic food is so high in Ireland that 70% of produce and meat on supermarket shelves comes from abroad.

European Union countries have organisations similar to the Organic Trust to ensure food is produced by entirely natural means.

Thus, if consumers wished to find out if British apples on sale here were organic, they would need to look out for a stamp of approval from an organisation, such as Britain’s Soil Association.

Organisations approving produce also ensure organic food containing imported ingredients — like exotic fruits from around the globe — meet European standards.

Though sales of organic food are dwarfed by the €1 billion Irish consumers spend on fresh produce annually, the market is expected to grow 15% to 20% over coming years.

Such high demand means organic food is a lucrative business for farmers, producers and shops, which are all increasingly seeing “natural-grown” food as a cornerstone of their business.

While organisations like the Organic Trust ensure standards are met in the farm and factory, the Department of Agriculture bears responsibility for consumers.

The department has a team of organic food inspectors based in Wexford to ensure shops and sellers play by European Union rules for organic produce.

The inspectors regularly visit shops, stores and butchers to ensure food labelled as organic is, in fact, what it says it is on the package.

Thanks to new powers, the department has just prosecuted its first court case and promises more will follow if it uncovers any more breaches of organic food rules.