Bord Bia is investigating after herbs which were not of Irish origin were incorrectly packed and labelled with a Bord Bia Quality Mark ‘Origin Ireland’ logo.

The herbs, which were sold in SuperValu, have been withdrawn by the retailer.

The fresh herbs grown in Kenya and Spain had been labelled as Irish produce and carried Bord Bia's Quality Assurance (QA) mark.

A spokesperson for SuperValu confirmed that the retailer has "withdrawn batches of SuperValu Thai Style Curry Mix 30g (fresh herbs) and SuperValu Fresh Parsley 40g (fresh herbs) due to incorrect labelling".

"The products were labelled as Irish and carried the Bord Bia logo in error.

"This is a labelling issue only and there is no food safety or quality concerns with the products. We apologise for any inconvenience caused," the added.

Bord Bia

In a statement, a spokesperson for Bord Bia said: "Bord Bia takes matters relating to mislabelling extremely seriously".

"The matter is being investigated, and a recall of the mislabelled products has taken place.

"A site audit of the Quality Assured (QA) packer will take place today (Wednesday, January, 28).

"The findings of the audit will not be made public as the audit process is confidential," they said.

Herbs

Only Quality Assured (QA) herbs, grown and packed in the Republic of Ireland can carry the Bord Bia ‘Origin Ireland’ logo.

"Under the Bord Bia Logo Use Policy, Bord Bia is entitled to impose sanctions for misuse of the Bord Bia Quality Mark logo.

"The full range of sanctions are publicly available in the Bord Bia Logo Use Policy document," the spokesperson added.