Undeterred by tales of tagless sheep and wandering cattle, Irish meat-eaters chomped their way through the foot-and-mouth crisis.
The major supermarkets and the Associated Craft Butchers of Ireland reported no fall in consumption, despite price increases of up to 30 per cent in lamb and up to 15 per cent in pork.
Other EU countries, including the UK, reported slumps in sales of conventional meats and an increased demand for organic products.
Although it was an animal rather than a human health issue, foot-and-mouth disease gave Irish consumers insight into the food production process.
What is said on label may not accurately reflect the contents. For instance, what is sold as Irish lamb may have come from Carlisle rather than Connemara. In the UK, there were calls to abandon factory farming and return to small traditional farms, where animals roamed freely. Here, the calls were more muted.
The chief executive of the Consumers' Association of Ireland, Mr Dermot Jewell, said the expose of the meat production process was a valuable learning experience. Consumers would now carry their concerns forward to their public representatives and demand safe food.
The Food Safety Authority of Ireland has responsibility for food from farm gate to the consumer's plate, while the Department of Agriculture, Food and Rural Development is responsible for what happens behind the farm gate. There have been calls for the FSAI to assume responsibility for both areas and for a full ministry of food, independent of agriculture, to be created.
The chief executive of the FSAI, Dr Patrick Wall, has commended the Department for its efforts during the outbreak. But he said there were lessons to be learned from the foot-and-mouth crisis if Ireland was to become an internationally renowned centre of excellence for the production of food.
"Several practices introduced on all farms as part of the response to foot-and-mouth governing restriction on movements of animals, people and machinery, adequate disinfection, quarantine facilities for sick animals, secure feed and water, vermin control, and handling and disposal of slurry should be retained and become part of good farming practice," said Dr Wall. If adopted routinely, these would dramatically reduce the incidence of salmonellosis, TB, brucellosis, leptospirosis and other diseases, he claimed.
The extent of the legal and illegal movement of livestock identified in the foot-and-mouth outbreak indicated that much progress was needed before consumers could be reassured that all food products were traceable back to their sources, said Dr Wall.
An all-Ireland approach to the protection of animal and consumer health was needed, he claimed. This would have to include compatible animal identification systems, surveillance programmes and control for diseases. Pathogens do not respect borders.
Imports also needed to be strictly monitored. "There is little point in raising the standards of our producers and processors if animals and products are imported into Ireland without effective controls," said Dr Wall.
Now the foot-and-mouth furore has died down, consumers are entitled to a positive response to the question posed by Dr Wall: "In return for their efforts in support of agri-food businesses, is it too much for consumers and the tourist industry to expect safe food of high quality with traceability and honest labelling in return?".