Madam, – Not for the first time, your Editorial writer (“Food safety”, January 19th) incorrectly portrays IFA’s position on food safety.
For the record, I appeared before the Oireachtas Committee on European Affairs last week on agricultural product quality, not the inquiry into the pork recall.
There I said: “What happened is unacceptable and must never be allowed happen again. We cannot afford to place Ireland’s reputation as a quality food producer in jeopardy. Farmers and processors involved in the pigmeat and beef sectors are totally innocent.”
Clearly we have to address two main issues: the source of contamination and the scale of the product recall.
The contaminated feed in the recent scare came from the fuel used in a licensed food recycling plant.
Obviously stronger regulation and monitoring are required for such processes, and specifically the fuel oils that may be used.
On traceability, I told the European Affairs Committee that at farm level, Ireland has a high-quality traceability system for cattle, sheep and pigs.
However, the product recall demonstrated that the traceability system for pigmeat beyond the farm gate at primary and secondary processing levels is less than adequate.
An effective batch traceability system at processor and retail level for pigmeat is essential.
I disagreed with the views expressed by the representative from Food and Drinks Industry Ireland on the issue of country-of-origin labelling and traceability. Whatever consumers buy must be transparent, and unquestionably must be what it says on the tin.
Farmers are already subject to very close controls and operate on very tight margins. In responding to the pork scare, we must be careful to avoid costly over-regulation, which only destroys our competitiveness. – Yours, etc,
DEREK DEANE,
IFA Deputy President,
Irish Farm Centre,
Bluebell,
Dublin 12.