A survey to be published today will claim that at least one supermarket chain and a meat-packing company are selling foreign beef which is incorrectly labelled as Irish. John McManus reports.
The research, which was carried out for the Irish Farmers' Association by Dublin-based DNA tracing company IdentiGen, will be released at the National Ploughing Championships in Ballinabrackey, Co Meath, today.
IFA sources have confirmed that the study will show that beef being held out as of Irish origin by at least one retaileris actually from outside of Europe, probably south America.
In addition, a meat-packing operation is also expected to be shown to have mixed beef of non-European origin with European produce, and then sold it on to the retail trade.
The IFA sources said that although the study will only highlight irregularities with "one or two supermarkets" the findings are sufficient to raise concerns about the true origin of beef which is being sold in Ireland as home produced.
The study is not a random survey, according to the IFA, but is the result of targeted sampling of packers, retailers and other outlets about which the IFA was suspicious.
It follows the revelation in July by the Irish Farmers Journal that beef served at a Department of Agriculture function was not of Irish origin.
A sample of the beef was analysed by IdentiGen, which concluded that the sample was non-European in origin because it contained genetic material from Zebu cattle, which is not a European breed.
The most likely source of the beef was Brazil, which exports some 40,000 tonnes of beef to Ireland each year.
The Department of Agriculture claimed that its own paper trail established that the beef was "Irish-bred, Irish born and Irish processed".
Similar doubts about the provenance of the samples sent by the IFA to IdentiGen may also be voiced today if the IFA - as expected - names the retailers and processors it believes are selling foreign beef as Irish.
The decision to publish the results at the National Ploughing Championships should ensure maximum publicity.
The findings come a week after Mr Larry Goodman's Anglo Irish Beef Processors and the State settled their €100 million legal battle that stemmed from the exporting of beef as being of Irish origin when much of it came from other sources.
According to IFA sources, there is no suggestion that any business associated with Mr Goodman is involved in the irregularities to be highlighted today.
The revelations about Mr Goodman's operation - made in 1989 - led to the establishment of the tribunal of inquiry into practices in the beef industry.
Numerous recommendations followed that were intended to ensure the integrity of beef sold as being Irish.