Half of the pork and pigmeat products in certified craft butchers in Ireland has been shown not be Irish produce, according to a new IFA DNA survey.

Out of a total of 120 samples from butchers, over half of the pork and pigmeat products were found “not to be Irish”, according to the IFA.

The IFA uses a DNA traceability system, where DNA samples from Irish boars are stored in a database managed by Identigen in Tipperary. Pork and bacon products are tested against the database to see it they are of Irish origin.

Pat O’Flaherty, IFA National Pigs Committee chairman, said he is concerned about the results following testing.

“An initial survey of the butchers shows that over half (51%) of the 120 pork and bacon products (back rashers, bacon joints and pork chops) sampled in 11 shops in nine different locations around the country were not assigned to the Irish boar database in Identigen, which means the products are not Irish,” he said.

As well as sampling the origin of pork and bacon products, the IFA also surveyed to see which certified craft butchers displayed the country of origin of pork and bacon products.

The results show that less than 20% of the certified craft butchers tested declared which country the product came from. In total, 11 stores were sampled, none of which declared where the product originated. Of those 11, nine were members of the Association of Craft Butchers of Ireland (ACBI). A requirement to become a member of the ACBI is labelling the country of origin of each product.

Comment

When contacted by the Irish Farmers Journal on Wednesday morning, the ACBI was unable to provide a comment on the findings of the IFA survey. However, it is understood that the ACBI is concerned that its members are buying Irish in good faith but Irish product may not be delivered to them.

O’Flaherty added: “We are calling on everyone that is conscious of buying Irish to ensure that the supply chain is transparent.

‘‘IFA will continue to test products and highlight anomalies that mislead consumers,’’ he concluded.