July 25, 2022

 

Ireland's official controls for egg sector work well, report states

 

Official controls in Ireland's egg sector have worked well although there are a few minor issues, according to a report published by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI).

 

An audit in November 2021 covered official controls on the table egg production chain including egg collection, transporting, packing, warehousing, and distribution and retail sale.

 

The main objective was to assess effectiveness of controls by the Poultry and Egg Section of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM). A secondary aim was to ensure compliance by selected businesses with food law.

 

The audit found there is an organised system of official controls to verify requirements of food law and marketing standards for businesses involved in the table egg industry.

 

Documented procedures on how official controls are carried out are in place. However, some of them refer to legislation which has been revoked or replaced and may not accurately describe the control practices currently used. This is to be changed by the end of 2022.

 

Official controls across the Irish table egg industry are done according to the level of risk and whether those involved in checks are suitably qualified and trained. Eggs must be delivered to the consumer within a maximum of 21 days of laying, according to EU rules.

 

Depending on business type, risk categories include scale of the operation, whether the business is registered with the Bord Bia Quality Assurance Scheme and history of compliance. It also depends on whether more than one system is in operation, such as organic, free range, barn, or caged eggs and on the authorised officers' experience of the business.

 

Rating categories are from zero to six. A combination of the risk and rating scores results in an inspection categorisation of low, medium or high. Businesses listed as low are inspected once per year, medium twice per year and high at three times per year.

 

Records of official controls are maintained and a copy is given to food businesses. The inspection outcome is either compliant or non-compliant. Non-compliant ones are further categorised as minor, moderate or major.

 

The audit team assessed food law in eight operations. Four were inspected to check compliance with marketing standards.

 

Businesses included a retailer, multiple central distribution centers, a wholesaler, and a vending machine operator. Four companies were inspected which varied in size from large commercial sites to small domestic operations, one of which was an organic producer.

 

One file was from an egg packing center which was no longer operating. However, the firm still had a registration number and was on the register of food businesses, despite the fact it had been closed for a long time.

 

Auditors found there is no procedure whereby DAFM revokes the registration of a packing center which is no longer in operation, when the company fails to complete the form notifying DAFM the business has closed. Such a system should be in place by the end of September this year.

 

Eggs examined in each packing center were stamped and had the required information on the method of farming being organic, free range, barn or caged, the country of origin and, if produced in Ireland, the county identification and producer code. Each egg had its best-before date, as part of the stamp. Outer packaging evaluated provided mandatory information on class, size, egg packing center code and best-before date.

 

- Food Safety News