Beef from a consignment that entered Ireland late last year, that originated in Brazil and that contained a hormone banned in the EU, was likely purchased by consumers and eaten.

The Joint Oireachtas Committee on Agriculture and Food met today (Wednesday, February 11) on the topic of food labelling when the probable fate of the beef in question was raised.

It emerged earlier this month that 128kg of Brazilian beef that contained a banned growth promoting hormone entered the Irish market.

On December 12, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) was notified by the Food Standards Agency Northern Ireland that a consignment of beef, with an expiry date of October 31, 2025, from animals that had been treated with oestradiol, had been distributed from Northern Ireland to three food businesses in the Republic of Ireland in September.

It is understood that the implicated beef that had reached the Republic of Ireland had been imported from Brazil by a company in the Netherlands, then moved to a company in Germany, than to Northern Ireland, and finally to three retailers in the Republic of Ireland.

At the time the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) said that none of the beef remained on the market here.

In the committee meeting today, when questioned by TDs and senators, FSAI representatives acknowledged that the beef with the banned hormone was in all likelihood purchased and eaten by consumers.

This led to questions from Roscommon-Galway TD Michael Fitzmaurice over the traceability of that meat versus Irish beef, and whether it was possible for a consumer to find out if they had bought and eaten the beef in question.

When asked if the people who bought the meat from the end retailer were traced in any way, an FSAI representative said that the retailers do not have to trace meat to the final consumer.

Fitzmaurice said: "Am I, as a consumer, allowed to know was there any risk that I ate that beef if I asked the question; who brought it in; have I the right to know the track right along, no more than I'm allowed [to know] if it's an Irish company or an Irish meat processor?

"If I had a worry...can you tell me...who brough it in, where it went to, or what shop it was in, in case I went into that shop?" the TD asked.

The FSAI representatives said that they were precluded from giving that information, and that it was subject to "confidentiality requirements".