Organic cheats - Inaccurate food labelling

THE food we use and encourage others to use is a defining characteristic in today’s world.

Those who can afford it are often prepared to pay a premium for foods classified in a certain way, carry health promises or celebrate ethical production rather than mass-produced, processed products. This commitment is the very bedrock on which organic farming and food production are built.

It is therefore disconcerting to learn that EU food and health safety inspectors have uncovered systematic flaws in the certification and labelling of Irish organic foods. They also found that a producers’ organic status was not revoked despite numerous breaches of standards. It may be surprising that these breaches were uncovered, but it is not surprising that it took EU inspectors to do so. The Department of Agriculture invoked the usual Irish excuse and pleaded the limited-resources defence, saying it had no dedicated staff to supervise organic food processing.

The label “organic” is so widely used, so very flexible, that it is barely credible, and this report undermines it further.