The contents of full Irish breakfasts and breakfast rolls may not be as Irish as advertised. An analysis conducted for the Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has found that more than a third of the pig products used in the country’s food service sector last year were not made using Irish pig meat.
The association on Wednesday published the results of the Irish Foodservice DNA Verified Survey for 2022, which found a high level of compliance at retail level.
There were lower levels of Irish pig produce found in the service sector, which includes fast-food outlets, hotels, service stations, deli counters and butchers, than in retail outlets.
A total of 582 samples were examined, with more than a quarter of these being identified as not being Irish pig meat.
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Some 181 samples were tested from retailers, with tests showing 97 per cent of these were made using Irish pig meat. The remaining 401 samples tested were from the food service sector, which included 34 individual outlets. Almost two in five (39 per cent) of these did not include Irish pig meat.
IFA president Tim Cullinan said food service businesses were not supporting the country’s pig meat producers and needed to “close the gap on the benchmark which Irish retailers have set”.
“The Irish pig sector continues to experience turbulent times, and the results of this survey highlight where the support must come from to help pig farms overcome the 18 months of decline in price,” he said.
Mr Cullinan said there has been progress in the retail sector since the DNA survey system was established 11 years ago. He said it has “never been more important” that Irish agriculture was supported given its importance in terms of jobs in rural areas.
In late 2021, the IFA national pigs committee, led by Roy Gallie, initiated a “farmer-led DNA testing scheme” of the food service sector. The purpose of this was to assess areas of food service sector that had room to improve.
“While this is just year one of verified testing, the results have confirmed our suspicions that the food service sector is not supportive of Irish product,” Mr Gallie said.
The survey also showed the breakdown of pork products being offered by the food service outlets and how they ranked, with premium cuts of pork testing the best at 85 per cent Irish. Ham came in next at 65 per cent, with typical breakfast products such as rashers and bacon testing at 55 per cent Irish.
“Some results have identified cases where businesses advertise products as Irish, but when tested, this is proven to be false and this is hugely disappointing,” Mr Gallie said.
“These companies are marketing themselves off the back of the high standards of production which Irish pig farms hold, and for them to undermine that label is unacceptable.”
He added: “We have written to a number of businesses on the matter and have plans to further increase the testing over the coming weeks and months.”
