The Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) has outlined the "substantial body of legislation" in place as it responded to concerns around food labelling compliance.

CEO of the FSAI, Greg Dempsey has said under EU and national legislation, food businesses are responsible for the provision of accurate food information.

The FSAI has the statutory responsibility for enforcing food legislation in Ireland.

Dempsey stressed that the FSAI takes compliance matters with labelling, including related to origin, "very seriously" and "we expect the food business to take it very seriously" too.

Food labelling

The Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food has met this afternoon (Wednesday, February 11) to discuss food labelling.

As well as the FSAI, the committee has heard from officials from the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and a representative from Bord Bia on this matter.

Greg Dempsey outlined to the committee the legislative requirements for food labelling, with particular emphasis to arrangements for beef.

The main piece of relevant legislation for labelling is EU Regulation 1169/2001, which sets out the information to be provided to consumers.

"Its purpose is to ensure a high level of consumer protection, ensuring consumers are not misled and supporting them to make informed choices about the food they eat," Dempsey said.

"Mandatory information that must be shown includes: the name of the food, list of ingredients, allergen information, and the date of minimum durability.

"It applies to all food businesses, at all stages of the food chain, to any material accompanying the food, and to food that is marketed online."

Legislation specific to beef

There are three other specific areas of legislation that apply to beef, Dempsey explained.

"Firstly, EU beef labelling rules, in place since 2000, impose certain requirements, including a declaration to consumers of the origin of beef," he said.

"This information must be declared on the label of pre-packed cuts of beef, but where the beef is not sold prepacked, (for example, in a butcher shop), the mandatory information is required to be provided in a written and visible form to the consumer at the point of sale."

Dempsey said that beef imported into the EU, for which not all the information referred to above is available, must be labelled with the words: 'Origin: non-EU' and the country of slaughter named.

"Secondly, in Ireland, national legislation applies to the catering and food service sector, requiring restaurants and other catering establishments to communicate information on the country of origin of cooked or prepared beef to the consumer, at the point ofadvertising, presenting, sale and supply," Dempsey added.

"The third area of where the origin of beef may be required is when beef is used as an ingredient in a food.

"An origin indication will be required for beef, where the origin of the food is declared and it differs from the origin of the beef."

Compliance

Dempsey said there is a "substantial body of legislation" covering labelling, although "we tend to refer to it as food information for consumers rather than labelling, because it extends beyond just a label", he further explained.

He said the FSAI, through its inspectors, monitors compliance with legislation.

"We take it very seriously - we expect the food business to take it very seriously," he said.

Where there are cases non-compliance, there is a "range of enforcement actions", depending on the severity of the non-compliance.

"In many of the instances of mislabelling being identified during inspection, the severity of the non-compliance will typically be relatively modest," Dempsey added.

The FSAI CEO told the committee that around 7,000 checks in respect of labelling in retail products were undertaken in 2025, with around 1,000 non-compliances including those that "would be relatively modest".

Michelle Minihan, FSAI director of audit, incidents and investigations told the committee that labelling non-compliances are "generally followed up on on-the-spot, brought to the attention of the food business operator whose job it is to remedy the non-compliance".

"They're usually of lower significance than other breaches of legislation of food safety and the food business operator is given the chance to come into compliance," she added.

Risk-based

The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine is responsible under its service contract for conducting labelling checks within its ongoing official controls in establishments producing or distributing meat in Ireland such as slaughterhouses, cutting plants, processing plants or cold stores.

The department is also responsible for official controls of meat at Irish Border Control Posts when entering the EU from a thirdcountry, including documentary, identity, and physical checks, which can include labelling checks and official sampling.

The FSAI outlined that the HSE National Environmental Health Service, under its service contract conducts official controls in food businesses such as retail premises (including butchers), wholesalers, food stalls, food vehicles, restaurants, catering establishments, public houses, hotels, and some manufacturers.

"The official control system is risk-based, with inspections prioritised based on criteria such as food safety risk, the compliance history of the premises, or risk of consumers being misled," according to the FSAI.

"This means that not every batch of meat produced or imported, or every piece of packaging, is inspected, but instead official resources are targeted towards areas of greatest potential of risk of non-compliance."