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Thursday, February 04, 2010
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Should Ireland's Food Be Irish?

IRELAND - The Food Safety Authority of Ireland’s (FSAI) Food Safety Consultative Council this week hosted an open meeting to discuss the position for and against the merits of buying Irish food.

The open meeting, entitled ‘Should Ireland’s Food be Irish?’ provided an opportunity for a discussion on the benefits and disadvantages to consumers who buy food produced in Ireland and the current legislation in place to regulate food labelling, whilst also giving the general public an opportunity to see the workings of the Food Safety Consultative Council.

Speakers at the event included: Mr Jim Power, Love Irish Food; Mr Raymond O’Rourke, Food and Consumer Lawyer; Mr Dermott Jewell, Consumers’ Association of Ireland; and Ms Margaret Jeffares, Good Food Ireland. Delegates attending the meeting heard that in the current economic climate, recent pressures placed on the consumer including wage cuts, tax increases and cutbacks in public expenditure have made consumers increasingly price sensitive, and as a result price trends for food in 2009 had fallen by 7.8 per cent, with non-alcoholic beverages falling by 11.7 per cent.

According to Ms Veronica Campbell, Chair, Food Safety Consultative Council, the Council acts as a forum for debate on food safety issues and provides advice to the FSAI Board. In practice, it gives members of the public and the food industry the opportunity to highlight issues of importance or concern to them in relation to food which can be placed on the agenda for the FSAI to consider.

“Today’s theme on whether Ireland’s food should be Irish is a highly topical issue, especially given the current economic climate. The open meeting allows both sides of the debate to put forward their current thinking and views on the advantages and disadvantages of purchasing Irish food, and how consumers can be sure that food which they believe to be sourced locally is of Irish origin,” Ms Campbell said.

Mr Jim Power, Chairman, Love Irish Food put forward evidence supporting the benefits to the state of the economy of encouraging people to purchase Irish produce.

“The agri-food sector has an important role to play in aiding economic recovery. The current volatile price environment has led to many consumers ranking price more important than quality. Although Ireland’s high domestic cost base is improving, competition from international suppliers is intensifying. Approximately 151,500 people are directly employed in the agri-food sector and therefore, to protect livelihoods, the food industry must be seen to fight back, and hammer home the importance of buying Irish to the consumer,” said Mr Power.

Mr Raymond O’Rourke, Food and Consumer Lawyer and member of the Taste Council put forward evidence that Irish shoppers are increasingly putting more emphasis on the importance of information on food labels, and that legislation regarding country of origin should be harmonised across the EU, allowing consumers to make more informed choices.

“Studies conducted by Bord Bia have shown that Irish shoppers are not just claiming an interest in food produced locally, they are increasingly buying local produce, with a steady increase in the numbers purchasing Irish products on a weekly basis. Quality symbols have also grown in significance, with 48 per cent of shoppers always checking for these merits compared to 29 per cent in 2001. Clear and unambiguous labelling is, therefore, of vital importance when it comes to providing Irish consumers with the full picture, as 26 per cent of shoppers confirm that they always check the country of origin on the label. The EU has made significant strides in minimising vague labelling information, however, discussions continue on tightening country of origin laws at an EU level, similar to the beef example, where substantial transformation is in place,” said Mr O’Rourke.

Also speaking at the meeting, Mr Dermott Jewell, Chief Executive, Consumers’ Association of Ireland states that consumers are often confused by creative marketing techniques and as a result, see the best-before date as the most reliable and the most sought after information on the label.

“Consumers are bombarded on a daily basis with a number of concerns ranging from issues with genetically modified food and organic foods, to labelling and the origin of food stuffs. What we have found is that consumers are simply concerned about foods that are better, faster, fresher, cheaper, and most importantly, what country they are sourced from. However, best-before dates are ranked as the most important deciding factor when buying foods, with price coming a close second. Our concern is that manufacturers mislead consumers on the labels they provide,” said Mr Jewell.

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