THE FOOD SAFETY Authority (FSAI) received 4,395 complaints last year, an 8.3% increase on the number made in 2022. 

31.9% of the complaints related to poor hygiene standards, 27.2% to unfit food and 26.7% to suspected food poisoning. 

The FSAI said that last year’s increase in complaints “continues an overall upwards trend over the past decade”.

Complaints about poor hygiene standards were the most common in 2023, the FSAI said. 

Among those complaints were reports of dirty toilets, staff handling cash and food with the same gloves, rodents, overflowing bins and incorrectly stored food. 

The second most common complaint category was ”unfit food”, which means it was not suitable to eat, including food contaminated with a foreign object. 

Commonly reported foreign objects in food included plastic, hair, insects; glass, stones and wood, the FSAI said. 

Among the more gruesome examples of things found in food were a dead mouse in a punnet of strawberries, a snail found in coleslaw, a stone in black pudding, a shard of glass in a loaf of bread and, somehow, a piece of plastic found inside a pepper. 

Other complaints regarding unfit food cited meats not cooked completely, food that smelled or tasted off, or sold past their use-by dates and mould. 

The third most frequently reported category related to reports of suspected food poisoning, with chicken, beef, fish and shellfish the most common food mentioned in complaints. There were 1,175 suspected cases of food poisoning last year. 

Dr Pamela Byrne, chief executive of the FSAI, stressed the importance of members of the public making complaints to the agency.

“While routine inspections are carried out regularly, reports from the public help to identify specific issues, ensuring swift identification of potential threats to public health,” she said. 

“The increase in complaints reflects a growing awareness among the public of their right to safe food  and the importance of high standards of food safety and hygiene. We encourage anyone who observes poor hygiene or food safety practices to promptly report it to FSAI for thorough investigation by the relevant authorities.”