The food industry needs to take a lead by making food safer in response to the heightened concern among consumers, according to the chief executive of the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, Dr Patrick Wall.
Speaking to food industry representatives and food scientists in the North, Dr Wall also said that suspension of the devolved Northern Ireland executive and of new cross-Border bodies should not halt a proactive all-island approach to restoring consumer confidence in Irish food and its safety.
The industry had to be able to say if its poultry products were safer than last year; if its salmonella controls were sufficient; if it was satisfied no harmful pesticide residues were in its fruit and vegetables; if there was 100 per cent compliance with BSE controls and if the imported product was the same standard as home-produced, or vice versa.
An ethos of partnership had to be developed among farmers and the industry. Unless premium prices were paid for premium products and passed back throughout the food chain, there would be no incentive to respond to the challenges of improving quality and safety specifications.
"Failing to respond will mean commodity products of low quality will be produced, consumer confidence will be lost and markets will be taken over by bigger players on the global stage with economies of scale."
The industry should regard concerns on food safety as an opportunity to create competitive advantage, rather than viewing them as "a further nail in the coffin for an industry under pressure", Dr Wall told delegates attending the annual joint meeting of the Northern Ireland Institute of Agricultural Science and the Chartered Institute of Marketing Agri-Food Group on Wednesday night.
A range of food agencies was in place, in the Republic and the United Kingdom, but the industry should not wait for legal requirements to raise food safety standards. "Those who say it is too expensive to introduce food safety controls will be left behind."
Food safety was part of the survival strategy for all sectors of the food industry from farm to point of sale. The issues were the same on both sides of the Border and so too were the solutions.
Industry-led initiatives had been implemented in the Republic which could be replicated in the North, he said. All were launched in response to growing consumer awareness.
