{"id":374960,"date":"2026-03-31T16:55:10","date_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:55:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/374960\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T16:55:10","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T16:55:10","slug":"fsai-issue-safety-warning-issued-for-ready-to-heat-meals-in-ireland","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/374960\/","title":{"rendered":"FSAI issue safety warning issued for \u2018ready to heat\u2019 meals in Ireland"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"\/
\n (via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\n Irish consumers are being warned about how to safely prepare \u2018ready to heat\u2019 meals due to health concerns.\n <\/p>\n

New advice from the Food Safety Authority of Ireland (FSAI) <\/a>follows last summer\u2019s outbreak of listeriosis, during which one person with a confirmed case died.<\/p>\n

Listeria is a bacterium that causes listeriosis, a serious foodborne illness that can have severe health effects. It poses a particular risk to older people, those with certain underlying medical conditions, and pregnant women.<\/p>\n

The FSAI is urging consumers to carefully follow preparation instructions on \u2018ready to heat\u2019 meals, ensuring they are cooked thoroughly until piping hot.<\/p>\n

The outbreak last year was linked to these types of meals, as was another similar incident in the United States.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Getty)<\/p>\n

The authority said these outbreaks highlight the risks associated with such products if proper food safety controls are not followed.<\/p>\n

Manufacturers have also been instructed to provide \u201cclear labelling, including prominent cooking instructions and a warning on the front of pack to cook meals thoroughly\u201d.<\/p>\n

While the meals are fully cooked during production, they still require proper reheating by consumers to ensure they are safe to eat. Although they are not classified as ready-to-eat under EU law, food businesses are responsible for ensuring their safety.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

(Getty)<\/p>\n

The FSAI warned that some of these meals may still pose risks if contaminated with Listeria monocytogenes, even when cooking guidance is provided.<\/p>\n

Mr Greg Dempsey, Chief Executive of the FSAI, said:<\/p>\n

\u201cListeriosis is a rare but potentially serious infection caused by the bacterium Listeria monocytogenes, which poses a particular risk to older people, people with certain existing medical conditions, and pregnant women.<\/p>\n

It is essential that consumers ensure that they handle these ready-to-heat meals as instructed on the pack and cook them thoroughly until piping hot, and in line with manufacturer\u2019s instructions.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"(via Getty Images) Irish consumers are being warned about how to safely prepare \u2018ready to heat\u2019 meals due…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":374961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[26625,615,26622,26620,26621,61,60,26626,26627,43,26624,5596,26623],"class_list":["post-374960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-104-drive","tag-dublin","tag-dublin-radio-station","tag-fm104","tag-fm104-homepage","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-job-finder","tag-listen-live","tag-news","tag-phoneshow","tag-podcast","tag-strawberry-alarm-clock"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=374960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/374960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/374961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=374960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=374960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=374960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}