There was a 10% rise in complaints about incorrect labelling on food, with the figures increasing to 192.

In total, the FSAI advice line received 2,739 complaints last year. Nearly half of all the requests were received by telephone and an increasingly popular method is via the website or email, which accounted for 40%. The remaining 11% included use of their social media and attendance at events.

The majority of complaints last year referred to food deemed unfit, with 1,052 being of this nature.

Some of the reports included food contaminated with various objects, including an animal tooth in a jam, a beetle in a burger bun, a worm in a chicken nugget, a metal screw in a cake, a snail in a sweet and a sharp piece of glass in frozen peas.

Information manager with the FSAI Edel Smyth said consumers now have “a low level of tolerance around poor hygiene standards” and that in recent years there is much greater consciousness among consumers about food safety.

A greater concern for food hygiene standards is reflected in the figures. This issue accounted for 643 complaints and was the second-highest.

Last year, there were also 510 complaints on suspected food poisoning and 42 for non-displaying of allergen information.

Interestingly however, the FSAI also released figures last month which revealed that there was a decline in the number of enforcement orders on food businesses for breaches of food safety legislation in 2015. There were 106 orders in 2015 compared to 113 orders in 2014.