Mayo TD Paul Lawless has told the Agriculture Committee that food labelling “abuse” is happening on the shelves of Irish supermarkets, with products advertised as “supporting Irish farmers” not actually sourced here.
The Aontú TD produced a number of supermarket products that were advertised as being “Irish” however on inspection, the products’ origins came from some countries outside the EU.
“I want to bring you through some of the products that are on the shelves at the moment in Ireland. Broccoli from Tesco [with] no reference code […] the origin is from Ireland and Spain,” Lawless told the committee as he held up the Tesco-branded product.
He went on to show the committee items from SuperValu and Aldi, as he hit out at mislabelling that is going unnoticed in many cases by busy shoppers who don’t have the time to scrutinise their groceries. Products listed by Lawless included ‘Chef’ branded tomato ketchup and SuperValu branded vegetables.
The TD said that Scottish carrots sold by the retailer had been labelled Irish: “Second item, carrots – Origin Scotland [but] on the packaging on the shelf it says ‘Supervalu Irish Carrot’. The next item – the advertisement says ‘Bold Irish Flavour’ but it says ‘ingredients from the EU and outside the EU.’
“Next one – we have a picture of Aldi with a big Irish flag saying, ‘Proudly supporting Irish farmers,’ and none of the produce underneath that particular flag is Irish.”
‘IRISH HERBS GROWN IN KENYA’
Next, Lawless pointed to Supervalu Spanish celery being labelled as Irish, and herbs grown in Kenya.
“On the shelf, we have ‘Supervalu Irish Celery,’” he pointed out. “We have honey here, and I’m a beekeeper myself. I know how difficult it is to produce honey. The honey is about €3, and it says ‘a blend of EU and non EU honeys.”
“I think the most egregious one is just off the shelves – it’s a Supervalu Irish herbs thai-style curry. Proudly pictured [on the packaging] is an Irish farmer from North Dublin, Mr Flynn, with a lovely smile on his face. And you look at the origin – and it says Kenya and Spain. And this is just a very quick scan of what’s happening today,” said Lawless.
“My time is very short, but there is a litany of food labelling abuse. Let’s call it what it is. This question is for all of you – how is this happening? And what sanctions are in place for these retailers? What is the level of inspection? What is the level of penalties that are happening, because it is totally unfair to allow mislabelling to happen for busy consumers who don’t have time to scrutinise labelling on one hand.
“And then on the other hand, there are irish farmers who are basically subject to really tight regulation, who are doing things by the book – by Bord Bia standard in some cases. By Irish regulation and Department regulation standards in other cases, and then you bring in a product; you essentially allow it to be mislabelled, and that product would never satisfy any Irish regulation.”
Responding to the charges, Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) chief executive Greg Dempsey and his colleagues pointed out the existing legal framework and a programme of checks.
“In 2025 we undertook over 7,000 checks in respect of labelling in retail,” Dempsey told the committee.
Lawless, whose clip from the committee shot to virality on social media this week, said that he was disappointed that senior officials could not clearly explain how the situation is happening, what checks exist, or what penalties apply. He said instead of clear answers, promises are made to “look into it.”
He has credited presenter and author Mick Kelly for helping to bring the information into the public domain. Mr Kelly is the founder of GIY, a social enterprise that supports people to grow their own food, which started in Ireland back in 2008.
According to Kelly, there will be virtually zero Irish vegetables in supermarkets here in five years time, with the farmer pointing to a huge reduction in field-scale vegetable growers in Ireland. He says that the Irish vegetable sector is collapsing, partly due to aggressive price promotions on vegetables.
Kelly has also pointed to popular Irish-branded organic honey which has the EU leaf logo for organics, yet the product’s country of origin is listed as Mexico.
“I understand the need for a small business to make money and hit certain price points, and there’s nothing illegal here but I think it’s really important that consumers know what they are getting, and to understand that in order to get real honey with all the benefits, you need to be buying from a local beekeeper. Preferably one who keeps native Irish honeybees,” he said this week.
SCHOOL MEALS: CHICKEN ORIGIN ‘USUALLY BRAZIL’
It comes after Aontú leader Peadar Tóibín called for a full audit of the hot schools programme to identify where products are sourced from. The Meath West TD said last week that he had been made aware that some suppliers of hot school meals have confirmed to parents that some products contain ingredients that originate outside of Ireland.
“Some parents around the country and some schools have been contacting their suppliers to query the origin of the food being supplied to schools under the hot school meals programme,” he said.
“In some instances companies have replied to say that all meat is from Irish companies but further clarify that the chicken origin is usually Brazil”.
“The very least the government could do – the bare minimum – is to ensure that in instances where taxpayers’ money is being spent on food, that food is Irish”.
He added that his party has asked the Minister for Education to carry out an audit of the food supplied to schools under the programme, saying that parents need transparency.
That same issue has been highlighted by another popular food and nutrition influencer, Sophie Morris. Ms Morris, who has over half a million followers on the platform instagram, has hit out at the publicly funded government programme.
“The food is being supplied by profit-driven companies, using misleading or even outright deceptive marketing,” she said.
“This should not be a free market private business model. This is the School Meals Programme, funded by taxpayers and trusted by parents to nourish children. Over €300 million of public money every year is to be spent on this programme.
“And yet – misleading marketing material goes unchecked, ultra-processed foods are marketed as “not processed,” and parents are reassured with language that doesn’t match the reality of the quality of this food.”
The popular health food advocate believes taxpayer cash could be used in a better way – pointing to how counties like Japan cook their school meals fresh with whole food ingredients.
“Children learn where their food comes from, meals are part of education, and food is treated as an essential to health – not a cost to be minimised. Imagine if our public funding was used similarly,” she told her followers.