DONEGAL-based MEP Pat
'the Cope' Gallagher has called for a change in
labelling laws to let shoppers know whether or not
canned fish has originated in Japan.
Concerns that shoppers could be buying
radiation-contaminated fish from Japan because of
shortcomings in EU labelling rules were raised
recently at the European Parliament.
A senior member of the Fisheries Committee pointed
out that EU rules on country-of-origin labelling
only cover fresh fish, while canned fish and seafood
need only display where processing took place, as
opposed to where fish were caught. Italian MEP Guido
Milana called on the European Commission to
immediately improve the labelling of canned fish and
other food that might have been contaminated by
nuclear radiation.
“Radioactivity in Japanese seawater was recently at
one million times the legal limit, so this is a
matter of great concern,” said Mr Milana.
However, North West MEP Mr Gallagher, who is a
member of the Fisheries Committee, dismissed any
risk of contaminated fish from Japan ending up in
Irish shops.
“If you look at the logistics of this, the time that
any fish in cans would have been caught was well
before any leakage from the Japanese disaster,” said
the Fianna Fáil MEP. However he accepted the need to
change labelling laws so that consumers are
adequately informed on where their canned fish comes
from.
“This should be dealt with as expeditiously as
possible in order to reassure the consumer that
they’re not buying contaminated fish from Japan,” he
said. |
