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THE EU IS introducing new rules to cut down on ‘food fraud’ and prevent a repeat of the horsemeat scandal, which was first uncovered by Irish authorities four years ago.
However there are concerns the regulations don’t go far enough, and that a scheme similar to the Republic’s country-of-origin labelling system should be rolled out across Europe.
Earlier this month, the European Parliament voted in favour of introducing new food safety rules to help tackle so-called food fraud.
The rules, which have already been approved by the bloc’s 28 member states, aim to improve food traceability, combat fraud and restore consumer trust in the food chain.
They were a direct response to the 2013 horsemeat scandal, which saw meat products being pulled from supermarket shelves across several countries, including Ireland and the UK.
The issue first came to light when the Food Safety Authority of Ireland said that beefburgers with traces of equine DNA were being supplied to supermarkets by a subsidiary of ABP Food, an Irish company owned by well-known businessman Larry Goodman.
Under the new initiative, over a dozen separate sets of EU rules have been revamped and consolidated into a single EU regulation governing food and feed safety, and animal and plant health.
This was due to the view that many national rules were overlapping and left too much leeway for member states to implement them in different ways.
Inspections
The new rules will result in more independent inspections, and a single EU-wide framework will apply to all official controls along the entire food chain, at all stages of production, processing and distribution.
Member states will be obliged to introduce stricter penalties for fraudsters. The new law also includes better protection for whistleblowers. The new rules will come into effect from late 2019.
Speaking to Fora, Sinn Féin MEP Lynn Boylan said that food fraud is still “rampant” in certain products in the EU, such as fish.
She said that the new inspections are a welcome development and will help Irish authorities tackle food fraud. However, she said she was concerned about how the new rules will be enforced.
The EU Parliament recently approved a new trade deal with Canada, named CETA. This deal will allow Canada to sell large amounts of meat, including horsemeat, to the EU.
Boylan said that Canadian food checks are not as stringent as those in the EU, and she added that the bloc has to be careful that poor-quality meat does not end up on shop shelves.
“I think that the rules will help, and tighter inspections are always welcome (but) Canada has made cutbacks to inspections and to their food regulatory authority,” she said.
“It is all well and good bringing in new EU rules, but is the EU capable of monitoring food coming in from third countries?”
Labelling
She said that other countries should look to replicate Ireland’s food country-of-origin labelling system. Bord Bia has introduced a quality mark that certifies products were produced in Ireland and meet a high standard.
Although voluntary, over 42,000 farmers and 150 food processors have signed up to the scheme. Thousands of farmers signed up for the scheme after companies like McDonald’s demanded Bord Bia-approved beef after the horsemeat scandal.
“The industry has argued against country-of-origin labelling because they say that the cost to the manufacturer would be prohibitive,” Boylan said.
“We can use Ireland as an example to show that farmers will opt into it voluntarily because consumers like to know where their food is coming from. Large retailers look for food with the Bord Bia logo now.
“Country-of-origin labelling could be applied across the EU; it would tighten up the food chain.”
Written by Paul O’Donoghue and posted on Fora.ie
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The producers are bluffing the EU, Ireland is doing it right. Aldi and Lidl do this here too – you can see exactly where the fish was caught, how it was caught and even the scientific name of the kind of fish. It obviously doesn’t cost Aldi and Lidl huge amounts to respect customers enough to supply information.
New law! How about enforcing the old laws that would be a start.
Closing the stable door after the horse has bolted.
This is why intelligent humans choose vegetarianism.
@Tommy_Bannon: Closing the stable door after the horse was eaten , to be more precise
Don’t forget there are plenty of intelligent people who eat meat too.
If you want to be healthy try cutting animal products from your diet. Processed meat that comes in a packet can’t be good for you. Either can milk from another animal that full of hormones and puss..
European milk does not contain hormones or ‘puss’. Every delivery from every farm is checked for temperature, antibiotics, bacteria etc. So stop spreading downright lies about the food we produce.
@Mick: of course there’s hormones in milk. You do realise dairy cows are constantly impregnated to produce milk. Cows like women are full of hormones while pregnant and those naturally produced hormones go into their milk to help bulk up calves. Its not intended for human consumption.. If you’re happy drinking and eating another animals milk go ahead.. Each to their own i suppose
I’m a dairy farmer myself. I understand completely the process works. What you are implying is false though. Natural, grass fed milk contains nothing untoward, we’ve been drinking milk for thousands of years. It’s when people start adding sugar and salt, E numbers and artificial chemical additives is when the trouble starts.
@Mick: Mick im not implying anything false. Cows milk is full of hormones, hormones that nature intends to help calves bulk up hundreds of pounds. It is not intended for children or adults to consume.
The natural hormones in milk are not in unusual quantities to cause any harm in humans. The levels of protein, butterfat etc in the 6L+ of milk that a calf consumes are responsible for growth. Generations of Irish people have eaten beef, dairy, eggs etc without issue. Obesity has only become an issue in this country since the 70′s, due to the advent of cheap, highly processed foods, the likes of coca cola with 30g+ of sugar per serving.
@Cosmo Kramer: backtrack much?
What about products labelled as Irish but brought down from the Uk?
No mention of take always etc imposing their religious beliefs on you, if you buy a ham pizza at many hundred placed you may be served dyed turkey NOT ham because these people don’t have any respect for you, nor your freedom to eat what you choose. It is often written on menu boards but often it won’t; it is dishonest but not illegal make sure your ham is not turkey meat dyed pink a common practice these days but The EU respect our rights on these issues.
Any particular reason a Lidl own-brand product was chosen to illustrate the story? Is there something we should be told?
Anybody .anywhere.here or abroad held accountable for putting shit into our food in the form of un regulated horse meat?anyone..
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