Food seminar told of shoppers' concern for animals

Consumers are so demanding that providing safe, high-quality food is no longer sufficient. Shoppers increasingly want to know if consideration is given to animal welfare and care of the environment, a conference has been told.

Satisfying such demands was essential if Irish food companies and retail outlets wished to maintain their market share, said the Food Safety Authority of Ireland chief executive, Dr Patrick Wall.

Speaking at a UCD Faculty of Veterinary Medicine conference on safety assurance for foods of animal origin, Dr Wall said participation by farmers with all elements of food processing and supply in "performance-related quality assurance schemes with a safety component will become a commercial necessity". Supermarkets and Irish food buyers would require products to be sourced from these schemes only.

Ireland now was producing "the safest eggs in Europe" through the Bord Bia egg quality assurance scheme.

Safety had become the single biggest issue driving customer behaviour, said Independent senator Mr Fergal Quinn of Superquinn. This was dictating whether they enter a supermarket and buy a product. The "threshold factor" was no longer taste and price. Traceability of foods was crucial. Fortunately, Ireland had become the world leader in beef traceability.

This was also at the heart of the GM food controversy, Mr Quinn said. Customers wanted traceability "and will settle for nothing else. They want to know when they are being offered food that includes a GM ingredient."

Equally, consumers wanted independent scientists and experts - "somebody they can trust" - because too many seemed to them to have biased opinion.

"But is it safe?" is the regular question from customers, said Tesco Ireland technical development manager Mr Bill Patterson. That meant, firstly, safe and wholesome to eat, but the follow-on was "what about?" These questions related to concerns, for example, about antibiotics, genetic modification, hormones, and animal welfare.

While Tesco believed GM foods were safe, it agreed to withdraw them where possible, and label "honestly" if not. This was because one in four of its customers was concerned about them. It believed a GM food ban was not sustainable because it was not sure it was possible to guarantee GMfree ingredients.

UCD president Dr Art Cosgrove has announced the setting-up of a chair of food safety at the college. Ireland's reputation for the quality of its food would not survive, he said, "unless the necessary investment in research of the highest international standards is made from both public and private sources."