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DNA testing by the Irish Farmers Journal has confirmed that some potatoes being sold as Queens in Donegal earlier this summer were not in fact that variety. The test indicated that the DNA-tested potato had a profile similar to that of the Accord variety.
In July, it was reported that 2kg bags of potatoes marked as Queens were being sold through multiple outlets in Donegal.
All bags of potatoes on sale are required to carry details of the variety, packer and the grower under Irish law.
The potatoes were packaged in a generic potato bag which had Queens printed on it. These bags did not carry the other legal requirements for the sale of potatoes
However, it was suspected that these potatoes were a different variety and were being falsely labelled in order to capitalise on the early, new-season market generally occupied by Queens.
Similar bags of potatoes were found in a number of well-known national supermarkets and retail stores around the county.
Legal requirements
The potatoes were packaged in a generic potato bag which had Queens printed on it. These bags did not carry the other legal requirements for the sale of potatoes. One of these bags was purchased and a sample of four tubers was taken and sent to the NIAB laboratory in Cambridge for DNA variety identification.
The results confirmed that the tubers tested were not Queens and that they had a DNA profile similar to the variety Accord. Accord is an early variety more commonly grown in the UK.
A second test on a 2kg bag taken from a different shop in August, which did have both the variety and growers number on a sticker, was again sent for DNA testing.
These test results again confirmed that the variety in the bag was not Queens but in fact Accord. The label did not contain a packer number or other pieces of obligatory information.
The grower number was traced to a potato grower in the east through the National Potato Register.
There is no indication that this potato grower was intentionally involved in the supply of potatoes under a false label.
At least one shop in Donegal still had 2kg unlabelled bags for sale this week. An investigation is currently under way by the Department of Agriculture into the matter.
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