The outbreak has exposed the failure to have full traceability of livestock, which is essential to ensure adequate protection for consumers, according to the Consumers' Association of Ireland.
Shopping had become fraught with uncertainty for meat-eaters, said its chairman, Mr Michael Kilcoyne. The label might read Connemara lamb but it could well have come from Carlisle, he noted. As a consequence, consumer confidence in "Irish" meat and food products had been seriously eroded.
"We know from the beef tribunal that beef was being imported and sent straight back out," he said on RTE's Morning Ireland programme.
"It was confirmed in the past 10 days that sheep came in, were labelled and packaged, and sent back out as Irish lamb. The whole market had been put in jeopardy."
People from France, Germany and Switzerland were not stupid, he added. The CAI had campaigned for years for food traceability.
"We are appalled that food could be brought into the country, processed and then exported as Irish food."
Speaking to The Irish Times, Mr Kilcoyne said it had been established that sheep tagged on coming into this State had had their ear tags removed.
"Who removed the tags? Why didn't the agriculture inspector see that the sheep were going around with Superglue or Polyfilla in their ears?"
Meat-processing plants had a licence to operate. If individual plants were shown to be in breach of the law, their licences should be revoked, he said.
Much of the blame lay with the Department of Agriculture, Mr Kilcoyne claimed. If it was incapable of ensuring that meat was traceable, and the laws were enforced, then a separate food ministry should be created.
"It should be independent of the Department of Agriculture. A large percentage of our workforce is dependent on the food industry yet we're allowing a few people to destroy it. Traceability is not just important for economic reasons, it also has implications for people's health."
Consumer concerns, however, extended beyond beef and lamb, he said. There were also worries about chicken fillets, originating in south-east Asia, having a little salt and seasoning added, and being sold as Irish.
The absence of foot-and-mouth in the Republic to date was more by good luck than by good management, he concluded.