At a protest by sheep farmers in the Lidl store in Tullamore during the week, IFA National Sheep Chairman James Murphy accused Lidl of misleading consumers in the labelling of lamb in their stores.

According to Mr Murphy, in selling lamb under their Inisvale brand, Lidl is misleading consumers as the product is neither Irish nor Bord Bia Quality Assured. Yet, he said that Lidl advertise the Inisvale brand as Bord Bia Quality Assured with an Irish flag. Mr Murphy added that the facts are that Lidl Inisvale lamb is from New Zealand, and is not Bord Bia Quality Assured nor is it tagged or traceable to EU standards. “Sheep farmers are furious that Lidl are continuing to mislead consumers. This issue has been raised with Lidl management in recent weeks and despite promises from Lidl that they would desist from such activity, it has not stopped,” Mr Murphy fumed.

The IFA sheep farmers’ leader also said that Lidl has large Inisvale signs prominently
displayed in their stores over the fridges using the endorsement of the Bord
Bia Quality Assurance mark including the Irish flag. In the fridges underneath, they are selling Inisvale lamb chops which Mr Murphy claimed, states in the smallest of print ‘produced in Northern Ireland using lamb from New Zealand.’
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