‘Produced in Ireland’ labels cause unrest

KERRY pig farmer Shane McAuliffe wasn’t impressed when he spotted rashers for sale on the shelves of supermarket Iceland and wants to know why they say ‘produced in Ireland’.

“It looked Irish and then I looked at the rest of the labelling and saw ES — which meant it was Spanish and I looked at a few other packets and saw D (German) and DK (Danish) on them.”

The pig farmer said he was “shocked” at the packaging and says it is “trying to mislead the consumer”. “Why are these rashers labelled ‘produced in Ireland’?”

According to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, which governs the labelling of food in Ireland, the term ‘produced in Ireland’ is allowed if the meat has been sliced and packaged in Ireland.

Mr McAuliffe, who farms 2,000 sows across four farms, says with the current prices that farmers are getting for their produce, they are losing around €10 with every pig that leaves their farm.

In a statement, Iceland said it complies with all packaging and labelling laws in Ireland and the EU.

Regulations

“Glendarra packaging shows the ‘Processed and packaged in Ireland’ logo which clarifies that the product was packaged in Ireland which complies with regulations. Iceland Ireland is committed to continuing to support local suppliers and Irish products as we expand our store portfolio,” it said.

IFA president Joe Healy said that retailers were exploiting the value that Irish consumers place on Irish products “by using misleading labelling to lure customers”.

He reminded consumers that the only labels they should trust to signify Irish origin are the Bord Bia Quality Mark — Origin Ireland and the National Dairy Council Guarantee.