Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent)
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347. To ask the Minister for Health the number of rapid alerts for food and feed notifications from 2011 to date; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44016/15]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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The Rapid Alert System for Food and Feed (RASFF) is a notification system introduced under the General Food Law (Regulation (EC) No. 178/2002). It is operated by the European Commission to exchange information on identified hazards between Member States. It covers food, food contact materials and animal feed. This information helps Member States to act more rapidly and in a coordinated manner in response to a health threat. The Food Safety Authority of Ireland assesses these notifications for relevance to Ireland.

Those that relate to animal feed are followed up by the relevant unit in the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. Those relating to food or food contact materials are assessed and risk managed by the FSAI. When necessary, food business operators are requested to take action through the relevant official agencies. The Department of Health is kept fully informed by FSAI of any developments in this area. The FSAI food incident team reports back on all the findings and measures taken through RASFF.

The following table presents figures in relation to the number of RASFF notifications in Ireland for the relevant period: