A senator has called on the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) to brief an Oireachtas committee on the contents of a report it published on non-compliances with food legislation.

The FSAI’s Audit of Food Business Operator Compliance with Meat Labelling and Traceability Requirements evaluated 27 food businesses, including supermarkets, food service establishments, storage and distribution establishments.

According to the report, non-compliance with traceability requirements was found at 10 establishments.

At the same time, non-compliance with labelling requirements was detected at 18 businesses.

The report outlined how a meat-cutting and processing establishment “misdescribed beef as lamb” in one instance, and also misdescribed non-Halal beef as Halal.

In one specialist retailer/butcher, food safety inspectors reported that “a large number of flies were noted in the retail and butchery areas”.

Senator Victor Boyhan
Senator Victor Boyhan

Independent senator Victor Boyhan described the findings of the report as “unsettling”.

“The audit found that there was a varying degree of compliance by food businesses with meat labelling and traceability requirements,” he said.

“It is disappointing that serious non-compliance outside the planned scope of the audit was observed at many of the businesses audited.”

Boyhan said that the FSAI should brief the Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture, Food and the Marine, of which he is a member, on the findings of the report.

“The Irish public and our trading partners need to be assured that non-compliance issues will not continue.

“It is essential that the Oireachtas committee can discuss the report and implement its recommendations,” Senator Boyhan concluded.