There has been a massive increase in calls to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) advice line last year when compared with 2021.
In total, a whopping 7,363 queries and complaints were handled by the FSAI advice line in 2022.
Breaking this down, 4,058 complaints from consumers, with 31% of complaints relating to unfit food and 28% to poor hygiene standards. Overall, the 2022 complaints saw an 18.9% increase compared with the 2021 figures.
Commonly reported objects in food included: pieces of glass; wood; plastic; paper; metal; hairs; small stones; medicine tablets; and insects.
Examples include a live snail in a pack of spinach; live maggots in fried chicken; part of a disposable glove in a rocky road biscuit; a dirty and possibly bloody plaster in a curry; a false nail in garlic cheese chips; a piece of glass in coffee beans; and metal shavings in chicken wings.
Complaints regarding unfit food included meats not cooked completely; mould found on food products; food on sale past their use-by date; and food served cold instead of hot.
The second most frequently reported topic related to poor hygiene standards. Hygiene issues reported included: fish deliveries left outside in the sun; excessive flies and overall dirty food business premises; rodent droppings spotted; bathrooms lacking soap; and staff not washing hands and other poor staff hygiene habits.
Aside from unfit food and poor hygiene standards, other consumer complaints ranged from reports of suspected food poisoning to a failure to display allergen information. The breakdown of complaints is as follows:
- Unfit food: 1,258
- Hygiene standards: 1,124
- Suspect food poisoning: 1,122
- Labelling: 150
- Allergen information: 127
- Unregistered food business: 63
- Others: 214
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