News

The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) 2023 Annual report, published last month, includes a summary of food fraud investigations and outcomes (see p61 onwards).

The FSAI Audits, Incidents and Investigations team conducted 57 investigations and 21 online investigations.  These ranged from warranted searches of premises to the monitoring of social media pages in cases where the online operation of unauthorised food businesses was suspected.  Outcomes included three Closure Orders, two Prohibition Orders and four Compliance Notices. Food safety concerns identified during these investigations necessitated the removal and disposal of more than 141,806 kg of products of animal origin.  The FSAI engaged with online platforms (such as Facebook and Instagram) where illegal food businesses were selling products online. This engagement resulted in two unregistered food businesses’ pages being taken down by the social media sites.

In overview, the report highlights a rise in “complex” food incidents.

FSAI has worked with a commercial laboratory (Identigen) over the past two years to adapt NGS (next generation sequencing), so that it can be used as a DNA screening tool to check that the composition of the food matches what is stated on the product’s labelling or descripion. FSAI screened 45 plant-based foods and food supplements from Irish health food shops and supermarkets. It looked for the presence of all plant species in the selected products and identified 14 food products for further investigation that may contain undeclared plant species. Of these 14 products, one was confirmed to contain undeclared mustard at significant levels, which is an allergen that should be declared. Another product (oregano) was found to contain DNA from two undeclared plant species, one at significant levels. A third product was found to have no DNA from the plant species declared on the label, but instead rice DNA was identified. All three products are under further investigation. FSAI will apply the same technology for the screening of meat, poultry and fish products.

 Read the FSAI Press Release and the full report