Some 17 meat labelling complaints were received by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) in 2020.

A total of 2,772 complaints were made to its advice line, with 100 relating to labelling.

Six of the 17 complaints related to beef labelling.

One complaint was in relation to minced round steak and a comment that there was no beef origin code or abattoir details at the butcher counter.

“The round steak mince has been relabelled in-store and was a branded two-pack. The best-before dates appear to have been changed,” the complaint said.

Another complaint related to beef products not being compliant with EU labelling law.

A stand-out complaint was in relation to beef labelling, where the country of origin on a rib roast said Azerbaijan.

At the time, SuperValu, where the roast was sold, said the label was a “coding error”.

The FSAI referred the complaint to its audit team and labelling expert for follow-up.

Fast food

A person who ordered a burger at a fast food outlet asked for the origin of the beef. However, management was unable to confirm the origin.

They complained to the FSAI about this, despite the fact that there was a notice at the outlet, saying all of their meat products were 100% Irish.

Hams

Last year, the FSAI received a number of complaints in relation to hams which were for sale. One complaint related to two fillets of ham.

“Both had use-by dates on them, but the person noticed another sticker underneath had a different use-by date, which was already five days past their use-by date,” the complaint said. The complaint was referred to the local authority for follow-up.

Another complaint related to a ham purchased in a butcher shop. “The label said minimum weight 6.5kg. Weighed it at home and it weighed 6kg,” the complaint said.

This complaint was referred to the local HSE environmental health officer for follow-up.

Chicken

Another complaint related to the weight of meat. The complainant bought 1kg of chicken fillets which were labelled as a special offer.

They then weighed it at home and it only weighed 750g.

“Went back to the shop again and the same offer was available. Asked for it to be weighed in the shop and it was 718g,” they said.

The complaint was referred to the local HSE environmental health officer for follow-up.