After Heineken Ireland confirmed that some of its "low-volume high-quality draught products" had been mislabeled and sold as craft beer in Irish pubs, the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) and Health Service Executive (HSE) have announced they are carrying out an investigation related to craft beers.
The FSAI issued a statement to Newstalk, stating,: "The FSAI, together with the HSE, is investigating complaints in relation to a number of craft beers. As this investigation is ongoing, we are not in a position to comment further at this time."
The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC) said that although it doesn't have a formal investigation open it "will continue to monitor the issue" while Heineken Ireland has appointed an external firm, Grant Thornton, to investigate the mislabeling.
Beers suspected of being mislabelled are being tagged on social media by users with the hashtag #fakecraft. Pana Cork Lager which was described by drinks group C+C as being "made from Irish ingredients and hand batch brewed in a small brewery at C&C's manufacturing site in Clonmel" said "our lager is not involved either in misrepresentation or passing off as something it is not".
Beer Ireland, a professional organisation which represents over 30 microbreweries and craft brewery workers in Ireland, released a logo that allows customers "be sure that their beer has been made in Ireland by a small brewery and not by a large multinational organization masquerading as a microbrewery or as a local product". The organisations public relations officer Gerald Costello commented: "It's heartening that [consumers] want our genuine product, and consumers need to know that's what they're getting, not something dressed up as it."
As a result of the scandal, Beer Ireland said there has been a growing interest from Irish brewers in its association.
