A food company in the Republic of Ireland has been convicted of breaching food safety regulations.
O Cathain Iasc Teoranta, based in the County Kerry town of Dingle, was found to have breached food safety law and bluefin tuna regulations and was fined €5,250 ($5,800).
The verdict, delivered at the end of April at Dingle District Court, followed a prosecution by the Maritime Fisheries Protection Authority (SFPA) and the Director of Public Prosecutions.
SFPA is the agency responsible for food law enforcement in the seafood sector up to the point of retail sale.
The company pleaded guilty to charges of breaching food safety legislation, including placing unsafe bluefin tuna products on the market, breaching food hygiene requirements and failing to ensure control of the temperature of bluefin tuna products.
They also admitted to breaching food traceability rules and certain bluefin tuna traceability requirements.
The case arose after an unannounced inspection at the company’s premises in March 2021 resulted in bluefin tuna products not being shipped to retail.
“The SFPA notes the convictions for these serious breaches of the Food Safety Act and the Fisheries Act. Compliance with the Food Safety Act and the consistent implementation of food safety management systems is crucial to the protection of consumer health and confidence in the fishing industry. This case was particularly serious due to the discovery of bluefin tuna without the necessary traceability information,” said an SFPA spokesperson.
Quarterly execution data
The SFPA also issued 10 enforcement notices to seafood companies in the last quarter of 2022 for breaches of food safety legislation.
These include seven compliance notices, two improvement notices and one fixed payment notice.
SFPA officers took the action during official risk-based checks. Agents conducted 60 inspections during the fourth quarter of 2022 at land-based establishments.
In one case, Castletownbere Fishermen’s Co-op Society pleaded guilty to food safety offences, following an inspection in October 2021. This related to the condition of parts of the food premises, failure to ensure pest control and protection against contamination and failure. comply with the traceability procedures for raw fishery products. The defendant was fined 2,000 euros ($2,200) and ordered to pay costs.
Paschal Hayes, Executive Chairman of the SFPA, said: “Protecting seafood safety is a core element of our remit as an authority. The low level of non-compliance found illustrates the considerable efforts being made by seafood companies to work within the regulations, as well as the robust inspection system in place to ensure and, if necessary, enforce compliance.”
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