The Brazilian beef containing illegal hormones which entered the food chain in the Republic of Ireland was more than likely sold and then consumed, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has confirmed.

The implicated beef was imported into Northern Ireland from Germany and then subsequently made its way to three different food businesses in the Republic of Ireland in September 2025.

It contained the banned carcinogenic hormone oestradiol 17ß, which is used widely on farms in Brazil.

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According to the FSAI, approximately 128kg of beef had crossed the border with an expiry date of 31 October 2025.

However, it wasn’t until 12 December 2025 that the FSAI was notified that it had entered the food chain in the Republic.

"We sent out environmental health officers to visit the three premises that had received the beef and discussed [it] with the owners of those; the assessment was that the beef was gone at that stage, more than likely consumed. Our judgment was that it was sold and consumed," Greg Dempsey, CEO of the FSAI told the Oireachtas agriculture committee on Wednesday afternoon.

Fianna Fáil's spokesperson on agriculture Peter 'Chap' Cleere questioned the length of time it took the Food Standards Agency in Northern Ireland to notify FSAI that the recalled beef had entered the Republic.

“The rapid alert notification that came in, was from the Netherlands. They notified on 20 November that the implicated beef had gone to Germany, it had moved from Germany to Northern Ireland. Subsequently on the afternoon of 12 December, the FSAI were notified that some of the consignment had come to the Republic,” director of audits, incidents and investigations with the FSAI Michelle Minihan.

Labelling

The meeting went on to discuss food labelling, where the FSAI revealed that in 2025 it undertook over 7,000 checks in respect of labelling in retail products.

The number of non-compliances in total last year was just over 1,000.

"That includes non-compliances which would be relatively modest - for example a board in a shop not being prominent. Our understanding is that the majority of them are minor," Dempsey told the committee.

The difference, he said, between a major and a minor non-compliance would be where there is "wilful attempts to deceive customers", Dempsey added.