The multinational food and beverage manufacturer, Procter & Gamble, has moved to reassure Irish consumers that Pringles crisps are entirely safe, after 800,000 packs were withdrawn in Japan on Tuesday.
The crisps were taken off the market after they failed to meet Japan's new regulations on genetically modified (GM) ingredients, the company confirmed.
Ms Margaret Swallow, a company spokeswoman, said the potatoes used to make the crisps sold in Japan came from the US and were not the same as those used to manufacture Pringles sold in Europe.
Concerns were expressed about the possibility that Pringles sold on the Irish market might also contain GM ingredients, but the company said this was not the case.
Pringles are manufactured at two of Procter & Gamble's facilities, one in Tennessee and another in Mechelen in Belgium. All Pringles products sold in Europe are produced in the Mechelen plant, which does not use any GM potato ingredients, the spokeswoman said.
Ms Swallow said the recalled crisps represented a "relatively small part" of Pringles' business .
"This was a voluntary recall, and there have been other recalls of this type because of a change in the Japanese regulatory requirements, which came into force in April," she said.
The products withdrawn had been manufactured using two varieties of GM potato, New Leaf Plus and New Leaf Y, both of which are authorised by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US.
Ms Swallow said that because of EU guidelines on GM ingredients, Procter & Gamble did not use them in Pringles products sold in Europe.
Mr Raymond O'Rourke, an authority on food law at Mason, Hayes & Curran Solicitors in Dublin, said the Japanese situation highlighted the problems caused by the fact that the US refused to demand compulsory labelling for the presence of GM ingredients in food products.
A comprehensive traceability system was now needed, he said. Just 18 GM ingredients used in foodstuffs have been licensed by the European Commission. The EU Commissioner for Health and Consumer Affairs, Mr David Byrne, is due to introduce traceability legislation for such ingredients imminently.
Mr O'Rourke said he was satisfied with Procter & Gamble's statement that it did not use GM potatoes in the Pringles sold in Europe.