The Irish Farmers’ Association (IFA) has called for an urgent probe into how Keogh’s Farm mislabeled French-originated baby potatoes to imply they were grown in Ireland.

The recent instance of French baby potatoes being marked with the Bord Bia Quality Assurance symbol, according to IFA President Tim Cullinan, is unacceptable.

“A thorough investigation must take place now, and the findings must be made public. Irish potato farmers go to great lengths to ensure that they meet exacting Quality Assurance standards so that their product is eligible for the QA mark. It is vitally important that consumers and farmers have confidence in Bord Bia’s systems. Irish potato farmers have been seriously hit with a massive increase in the cost of production over the past 12 months. They badly need market returns from the Irish market to be maximized, but actions such as this do the exact opposite,” Cullinan mentioned, according to a recent IFA release.

IFA has gotten in touch with the Department of Agriculture and asked them to look into the occurrence and provide a thorough explanation.

“Bord Bia gets significant state funding from the Department of Agriculture, and it is important that the Department satisfy themselves that Bord Bia’s systems are robust across all sectors,” Cullinan concluded.

In spite of the fact that the tubers had been sourced from France, it was revealed last week that the spud farmers in north Dublin had shipped consignments of baby potatoes to some retail locations across the nation with the Bord Bia Quality Assurance label, which includes the tricolor, on the packaging, according to The Irish Times.

Keogh’s Farm acknowledged a mistake had been made and stated that an internal investigation was ongoing, but emphasized that it had not been its intention to deceive. It also stated that the potatoes had only been packaged incorrectly for a brief period of time earlier this month, lasting less than a week.