Food safety among top concerns for food businesses in Ireland

The Food Safety Authority (FSAI) has published the results of the national attitudinal research which shows from a food regulatory perspective that food allergens and ingredients labelling is the number one concern for Irish food businesses.

FSAI has surveyed senior executives from a diverse range of food businesses on their concerns about food safety and the food industry’s current operating environment. The research shows that more than 7 out of 10 food businesses are increasingly confident about food safety regulation in Ireland, with almost three quarters (73%) stating that food produced in Ireland is safer than it was five years ago.

Despite the increased confidence, the respondents have expressed concerns about a numerous food safety issues:

  • Allergens and ingredients labelling comes out on top as the greatest food safety worry for Irish food businesses, with over half (53%) listing it as one of their top three concerns
  • Food hygiene and handling requirements (36%) and carcinogenic chemicals in foods (30%) also ranked highly amongst those surveyed
  • One fifth (18%) respondents are calling for more food safety regulation and enforcement
  • Around one third (31%) of food businesses do not feel well enough informed in terms of food safety information, despite a high proportion claiming to cover this in-house or via consultants