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An Irish farmer has blasted as "misleading" labels on some packets of meat for sale here.

Shane McAuliffe was recently shopping in Iceland when he inspected the packaging on some of their meat items.

He claims that some items said Produced in Ireland on the label, but originated from other countries.

Iceland Ireland, however, say they "comply with regulations".

The Kerry pig farmer told Independent.ie: "When I looked at the shelves I saw a brand called Glendarra and it said on top - Master Butchers of Ireland and 'produced in Ireland' and the Irish tricolour.

"It looked Irish and then I looked at the rest of the labelling and saw ES - which meant it was Spanish and I looked at a few other packets and saw D (German) and DK (Danish) on them.

"The only indication that it is Danish or Spanish pork is by two little letters elsewhere on the packaging."

He was shocked at this and said it is "blatantly trying to mislead the consumer". He wrote on Twitter: "Was just doing my shopping in their [Iceland's] Fermoy store, €300 worth of Glendara brand pigmeat with tricolour (then realised DK & ES indicates Danish & Spanish bacon). Told manager I’m not buying it."

A spokesperson for the Food Safety Authority says the term Produced in Ireland is allowed if the meat has been sliced and packaged in Ireland.

They added that the European Commission is changing legislation to ensure the origin of the primary ingredient will be made more obvious but this won't come into force until 2020.

"Changes are coming from the European Commission with regards to origin labelling.

"Following an EU wide consultation, the new rules have been drafted and agreed. The new rules will kick in on April 1, 2020. Before those kick in, the Commission will produce guidance on their application and the FSAI will share this guidance."



In a statement, Iceland Ireland told the newspaper that they "comply with regulations".

They said: "In accordance with the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, by the regulation (EC) No 1580/2007, information particulars required must be shown legibly and obviously on one side of the packaging, which is shown on Glendarra rasher packaging.

"Glendarra packaging also shows the ‘Processed and packaged in Ireland’ logo which clarifies that the product was packaged in Ireland which complies with regulations. Iceland Ireland is committed to continuing to support local suppliers and Irish products as we expand our store portfolio."