The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has demanded that the findings of an investigation into how the Bord Bia Quality Assured mark appeared on French potatoes be made public.
On January 13, it was discovered that a small batch of mislabelled packs of Keogh’s Farm easy cook baby new potatoes had been distributed to some Musgrave stores between January 3-9.
The contents were labelled as French baby potatoes, however the packs also incorrectly carried the Bord Bia quality logo which is only ever used for potatoes grown in Ireland.
In a statement to Agriland, Keogh’s Farm said it was not its intention to mislead consumers in any capacity and that Bord Bia has been informed.
“Keogh’s Farm as Irish potato growers take origin and provenance extremely seriously and they are reviewing all label approval procedures to ensure this issue does not occur again,” a company spokesperson said.
It added that potatoes are sourced from France seasonally “to ensure consistency of supply to supplement Irish potato stocks”.
Investigation
Bord Bia told Agriland that it takes matter relating to mislabelling “extremely seriously”.
Only Quality Assured potatoes, grown and packed in the Republic of Ireland, can carry the Bord Bia ‘Origin Ireland’ logo.
“The member associated with this breech of Bord Bia’s logo use policy was contacted immediately and a recall of all affected produce was initiated,” a Bord Bia spokesperson said.
An investigation into the matter is underway and Bord Bia carried out a site audit at Keogh’s Farm last Monday (January 16).
Bord Bia is entitled to impose sanctions for misuse of the Bord Bia Quality Mark logo, which may include fines and suspension from the scheme, even in the case of a genuine mislabelling error.
“The findings of the audit will not be made public as the audit process is confidential,” the spokesperson added.
IFA president, Tim Cullinan, said that the mislabelling incident is “unacceptable”.
“A thorough investigation must take place now, and the findings must be made public,” he said.
“Irish potato farmers go to great lengths to ensure that they meet exacting Quality Assurance standards so that their product is eligible for the QA mark.
“It is vitally important that consumers and farmers have confidence in Bord Bia’s systems.”
Cullinan added that Irish potato farmers have been hit with massive increases in the cost of production over the past year.
“They badly need market returns from the Irish market to be maximised, but actions such as this do the exact opposite,” he said.
The IFA has contacted the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM) and requested that they investigate this incident and give a full explanation, adding:
“Bord Bia gets significant state funding from the department of agriculture [food and the marine], and it is important that the department satisfy themselves that Bord Bia’s systems are robust across all sectors.”
Independent senator Victor Boyhan, who is a member of the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, said that he fully supports the IFA demand.
“Any action intentional or not that undermines the agri-food industry must be thoroughly investigated and appropriate action taken.
“I have today requested that the chair of the committee Jackie Cahill request Bord Bia to come before the committee to explain all the issues around this controversy and subject themselves to a question and answer session on the matter,” Senator Boyhan said.