The National Dairy Council (NDC) has said it is “disappointing to see misleading information” presented in a documentary that aired last night (Sunday, September 27).

Speaking about the RTÉ programme What Planet Are You On?, which airs on Sunday evenings, the NDC expressed its disappointment in figures on carbon emissions that were presented on the show.

Last night’s episode featured the “dairy-loving McNamara family” from Co. Longford, who decided to “take the plunge and give non-dairy milk a whirl”, according to RTÉ. 

The NDC said it was “disappointing to see misleading information and hugely inaccurate figures for carbon emissions of Irish dairy and suggesting that ‘any alternative’ is better, without highlighting their inferior nutritional value”.

“Irish dairy is amongst the most sustainable in the world,” the NDC added.

The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has also criticised the programme, saying that statistics presented on Irish beef are “wrong and misleading”.

FSAI warning over vegan food

In other news, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has today (Monday, September 28) warned consumers who are allergic or intolerant to animal-derived food of the possible dangers of consuming ‘vegan’ products.

The FSAI has said that the danger lies in people allergic to products egg, milk, fish, molluscs or crustaceans consuming vegan products in the “belief that such foods are completely free from animal-based allergens”.

In a statement issued today, the FSAI said:

“Consumers sometimes assume that a food declared as vegan contains absolutely no ingredients of animal origin, in line with the ethos of veganism.

“This is not always the case, as low-level accidental cross-contamination from animal-based allergens can occur during the production process.

“The term ‘vegan’ is not defined in EU or Irish food law and therefore, there are no limits set out in food law about the proportion of animal-derived ingredients permitted in such food.