Fraudulent Aldi are selling Israeli grapefruit labeled: "Produce of Cyprus"

by Fred Johnston Sun Mar 07, 2010 16:02

Neither Palestinian nor Irish lives matter in Ireland when there's a buck to make. A Sunday Independent story today, March 7th, reports that an Israeli firm is up for a contract with many millions to supply the Irish Army . . . .with bullets. The firm, owned by the Israeli government, is called Israel Military Industries. The decision on who wins the contract will be taken by Brian Cowen. So our government shows once again that we thick Paddies can prostitute themselves before Israel even when Israel puts our lives at risk by using dodgy Irish passports to commit murder. There could be a fair case to say that Ireland is now complicit in the murder.

by Brian Anthony Comiskey - Labour Party Sun Mar 07, 2010 15:25

It saddens me that the Elected Representatives of a people who have suffered so much abuse over many centuries, especially in the middle period of the 20th Century, could continue to abuse their neighbours to the same degree to which they quite rightly pleaded to an unhearing world for relief.

Brian A Comiskey

by Ronan Tue Apr 21, 2009 19:34

Supervalu are also engaged in this practice. Their store in Killester sell potatoes that are marked Israel on the packaging yet Supervalu advertise them as coming from the UK. They also claim that Jaffa and Carmel (two leading Israeli brands) come from South Africa. I have been in touch with the National Consumer Agency about this, I don't know what kind of outcome that will have. Perhaps if enough people make some noise about this it will force them to change??

by Alan in Mayo Fri Apr 03, 2009 18:54

UPDATE. 03/04/2009
Cyprus Mail Newspaper
03/04/09

Cyprus checking out Israeli fruit con
By Nathan Morley

COMMERCE Minister Antonis Paschalides is looking into a humiliating blunder by a leading EU supermarket chain after it sold tons of Israeli fruit as ”Produce of Cyprus”, he said yesterday.

German-owned Aldi were left red-faced when they admitted to the Cyprus Mail that they had effectively misled thousands of Irish consumers by falsely labeling Israeli grapefruit as Cypriot produce.

Paschalides said yesterday he was looking into a report prepared by the Cyprus Embassy in Dublin about the deception.

Some Irish consumers even said they would boycott Cyprus produce until they knew it was genuinely Cypriot. The prospect could be damaging for Cypriot citrus growers.

“I have heard about this and have received the reports which I will study and am looking into the matter. I take these reports very seriously and will act accordingly,” Paschalides told the Cyprus Mail yesterday.

In a new twist yesterday, a photo was sent through from Ireland showing a box of ‘easy peelers’ pink grapefruit on sale at Irish supermarket giant Dunnes Stores. The label under the box says ‘Cyprus’ but the individual fruit have Jaffa stickers on them, which clearly identifies them Israeli produce.

A spokesman at Dunnes Stores yesterday told the Cyprus Mail there was no one there to comment.

Sotos A. Liassides, the Cypriot Ambassador to Dublin, told the Cyprus Mail on Tuesday that the Aldi ‘blunder’ had been corrected, but added that he would be keeping a close eye on the situation.

“Yes they have removed it. This has also been confirmed by my sources. The good news is that you can find genuine Cypriot grapefruit at shops such as Tesco, and you will see the colour is a little more yellow, and of course it is not marked Jaffa,” he said.

On learning of the Aldi blunder, Liassides sent an urgent report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the Ministry of Commerce in Nicosia.

The EU states that the control of correct labelling is the task of member states' national control authorities such as food inspection bodies or market surveillance authorities.

Aldi apologised to its customers two weeks ago after Irish shoppers uncovered the scam, which Aldi called a ‘packaging error’. The chain blamed the supplier, who is understood to be in Israeli company.

One such consumer, Tommy Donlan, took a series of photographs of the grapefruit, which showed those packages labelled ‘Cyprus Produce’ still had tiny circular stickers on the exterior of the fruit marked ‘Carmel’- a citrus region of Israel.

“Aldi knew what they were doing and that is trying to shift unwanted Israeli stock as being from Cyprus,” Donlan said.

The decision to pass off the Israeli fruit as Cypriot appears to have come after a widespread boycott of Israeli goods in the aftermath of Israel’s invasion into Gaza in December.

Since then, shoppers across Ireland especially, have been turning their backs on Israeli products such as fruit, vegetables and electronics.

Reports in the Israeli press this week said some 20 per cent of the country’s exports had been affected by the boycott

by Alan in Mayo Sun Mar 22, 2009 17:18

Well spotted Tommy and all. Fair play to yee! I would like to ask Mayo shoppers to check in there local Aldi branch in Castlebar to see if this is happening there to.

by planxtysumoud - FPC Sun Mar 22, 2009 17:00

... forgot to give the Related Link

by planxtysumoud - Free Palestine Campaign Sun Mar 22, 2009 16:34

"It happened in Ireland, whose terrorists trained along with Hezbullah. And Cyprus - which gets more than its share of Israeli tourists is complaining about it"
Following the outing of Aldi's fraudulent mislabeling of Israeli grapefruit as "Produce of Cyprus" on Indymedia (Related Link) and further publicising on the Cyprus Mail, Famagusta Gazzette, Scoop and Fresh Plaza, keeper of the Zionist flame, Israel Matsav was in censorious peevish mode : "Now this is rich. A German supermarket. It happened in Ireland, whose terrorists trained along with Hezbullah. And Cyprus - which gets more than its share of Israeli tourists is complaining about it. Notice how they don't boycott cell phones or Intel. "
As individual articles on the Cyprus Mail don't have URL's, courtesy of Israel Matsav, below is the relevant article from last Thursday's edition:

A LEADING German supermarket yesterday admitted to effectively misleading European consumers by selling re-labelled Israeli Grapefruit as a product of Cyprus before passing it on to the public.

It has been claimed the decision to pass off the Israeli fruit by the German ALDI chain came after a widespread boycott of Israeli goods in the aftermath of the Israel’s invasion into Gaza in December.

Since then, shoppers across Ireland especially, have been turning their backs on Israeli goods such as fruit, vegetables and electronics and it is thought that stockpiles of Israeli produce are rotting at supply depots.

One Irish consumer, in a letter to the Cyprus Mail said: “I for one will be boycotting all products from Cyprus until I can be assured that it is not in fact Israeli produce and I will be advising all others to do likewise. This is something which can do serious damage to citrus farmers in Cyprus.”

In a written statement sent directly to the Cyprus Mail last night, ALDI claimed that the gaff was down to a supplier packaging error and affected approximately 10 per cent of all grapefruit sold in their Irish branches.

“The grapefruit was incorrectly labeled as coming from Cyprus when it should have been labeled as coming from Israel. As soon as it became aware of the issue, ALDI corrected it, and all grapefruit now being sold is properly labeled,” the statement read.

It is understood that ALDI’S’s suppliers are Israeli.

The Cyprus Mail can also reveal that prior to the ALDI admission; the Cypriot Ambassador to Dublin sent an urgent report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the Ministry of Commerce about the situation.

“My report has been passed on to the relevant ministries in Nicosia, I am fully informed about the grapefruit situation,” Ambassador Sotos A. Liassides told the Mail.

Irish Ambassador Tom Brady said yesterday he was unaware of the situation, and had not as yet, anyway, been contacted by the Cypriot authorities.

The revelations about the re-labeling were first made by consumer Tommy Donlan, who told the Cyprus Mail that the manager of an ALDI store in Galway completely ignored him when confronted about the suspicious fruit.

“They are portraying the product as something it is not. The con is quite brazen, in some cases they didn’t even bother to take the Israeli stickers or code numbers from the packaging, the colour is different, it’s all pretty shabby really.”

Donlan took a series of photographs of the grapefruit, which show packages labeled ‘Cyprus Products’ remarkably still had tiny circular stickers on the exterior of the fruit marked ‘Carmel’- a citrus region of Israel.

“Mangers at four ALDI stores told me they were no longer selling Israeli produce, they lied,” he added.

Donlan also dismissed ALDI’s statement of a packaging error as “utter rubbish”.

“This is just another PR creative exercise with the truth; it’s a barefaced lie to put it mildly. ALDI knew what they were doing and that is trying to shift unwanted Israeli stock as being from Cyprus.”

The ALDI error will be viewed dimly by the EU, whose strict food labeling laws are designed to inform purchasers of the properties, origin, ingredients, nature and characteristics of the food they buy and that labelling should not mislead consumers.

The EU stresses that the information contained on food labels must not make misleading or false claims.

ALDI said in their statement to the Mail they would be taking action to ensure such an occurrence was not repeated.

“ALDI apologises unreservedly for this error to its customers and producers. It is company policy that all produce sold has its country of origin correctly labelled. This is the responsibility of suppliers to ALDI and they are fully aware of their obligations in this regard. ALDI has taken steps to ensure this does not happen again.

Environmental Health Officers from the Health Service Executive who are under contract to Food Safety Authority of Ireland are also said to have become involved in the issue, but were unavailable for comment yesterday.

It is understood that some members of farming unions in Cyprus are furious about the claims and have been seeking clarification from the Ministry of Agriculture in Nicosia. (end of article).

"ALDI has taken steps to ensure this does not happen again" : unfortunately, the "steps" taken by villainous Aldi were further obfuscatory ones - the giveaway Carmel stickers on the grapefruit were removed and replaced with new ones,"Jaffa Sunrise Red." As such, yesterday, whilst three Galway Free Palestine Campaign activists manned a Boycott information stall in Shop Street another seven in full hue and cry picketed Aldi in the Galway Shopping Center, Headford Road (See video).

http://www.cyprus-mail.com/news/
http://www.freshplaza.com/news_detail.asp?id=40192
http://www.famagusta-gazette.com/default.asp?sourceid=&...=.com
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/WO0903/S00382.htm
http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/

Caption: Video Id: P1OPuOVjy_I Type: Youtube Video
Embedded video Youtube Video

by Debbie Fri Mar 20, 2009 09:58

From the above article : " It is understood that ALDI’S’s suppliers are Israeli. "

Shouldnt Aldi just be boycotted across the board If this is the case ?

by Sean Clinton Fri Mar 20, 2009 08:11

Shunned Israeli fruit being sold as Cypriot
By Nathan Morley

ALDI ‘apologises unreservedly for this error to its customers and producers’

A LEADING German supermarket yesterday admitted to effectively misleading European consumers by selling re-labelled Israeli Grapefruit as a product of Cyprus before passing it on to the public.

It has been claimed the decision to pass off the Israeli fruit by the German ALDI chain came after a widespread boycott of Israeli goods in the aftermath of the Israel’s invasion into Gaza in December.

Since then, shoppers across Ireland especially, have been turning their backs on Israeli goods such as fruit, vegetables and electronics and it is thought that stockpiles of Israeli produce are rotting at supply depots.

One Irish consumer, in a letter to the Cyprus Mail said: “I for one will be boycotting all products from Cyprus until I can be assured that it is not in fact Israeli produce and I will be advising all others to do likewise. This is something which can do serious damage to citrus farmers in Cyprus.”

In a written statement sent directly to the Cyprus Mail last night, ALDI claimed that the gaff was down to a supplier packaging error and affected approximately 10 per cent of all grapefruit sold in their Irish branches.

“The grapefruit was incorrectly labeled as coming from Cyprus when it should have been labeled as coming from Israel. As soon as it became aware of the issue, ALDI corrected it, and all grapefruit now being sold is properly labeled,” the statement read.

It is understood that ALDI’S’s suppliers are Israeli.

The Cyprus Mail can also reveal that prior to the ALDI admission; the Cypriot Ambassador to Dublin sent an urgent report to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and to the Ministry of Commerce about the situation.

“My report has been passed on to the relevant ministries in Nicosia, I am fully informed about the grapefruit situation,” Ambassador Sotos A. Liassides told the Mail.

Irish Ambassador Tom Brady said yesterday he was unaware of the situation, and had not as yet, anyway, been contacted by the Cypriot authorities.

The revelations about the re-labeling were first made by consumer Tommy Donlan, who told the Cyprus Mail that the manager of an ALDI store in Galway completely ignored him when confronted about the suspicious fruit.

“They are portraying the product as something it is not. The con is quite brazen, in some cases they didn’t even bother to take the Israeli stickers or code numbers from the packaging, the colour is different, it’s all pretty shabby really.”

Donlan took a series of photographs of the grapefruit, which show packages labeled ‘Cyprus Products’ remarkably still had tiny circular stickers on the exterior of the fruit marked ‘Carmel’- a citrus region of Israel.

“Mangers at four ALDI stores told me they were no longer selling Israeli produce, they lied,” he added.

Donlan also dismissed ALDI’s statement of a packaging error as “utter rubbish”.

“This is just another PR creative exercise with the truth; it’s a barefaced lie to put it mildly. ALDI knew what they were doing and that is trying to shift unwanted Israeli stock as being from Cyprus.”

The ALDI error will be viewed dimly by the EU, whose strict food labeling laws are designed to inform purchasers of the properties, origin, ingredients, nature and characteristics of the food they buy and that labelling should not mislead consumers.

The EU stresses that the information contained on food labels must not make misleading or false claims.

ALDI said in their statement to the Mail they would be taking action to ensure such an occurrence was not repeated.

“ALDI apologises unreservedly for this error to its customers and producers. It is company policy that all produce sold has its country of origin correctly labelled. This is the responsibility of suppliers to ALDI and they are fully aware of their obligations in this regard. ALDI has taken steps to ensure this does not happen again.

Environmental Health Officers from the Health Service Executive who are under contract to Food Safety Authority of Ireland are also said to have become involved in the issue, but were unavailable for comment yesterday.

It is understood that some members of farming unions in Cyprus are furious about the claims and have been seeking clarification from the Ministry of Agriculture in Nicosia.

Cyprus grapefruit, despite being low in production, is regarded as among the best in the world. It has a high juice and sugar content which is a result of virtually perfect growing conditions.

PHOTO: An Israeli Carmel sticker still clearly visible underneath the plastic label marked ‘Produce of Cyprus’.

by seamiebaby Wed Mar 18, 2009 21:46

Given the oprobrium to which the zionist enclave is subjected everywhere and the growing sucess of the boycott campaign it's little wonder that Aldi had to resort to underhand tacticts in order to push the apartheid produce on unsuspecting Irish consumers.

Grapevine has it that an apology is in the offing - lets see what grovelling lies they produce.

But there's no excuse for consumers being conned like that in the first place - its easy to tell the stuff from apartheid israel - its the fruit with the finger gouges. terrible what some people do all the same.

by Debbie Mon Mar 16, 2009 17:01

This is a terrible endictment of Aldi with it's shoddy moral ethics shockingly highlighted in this excellent piece.

I dont know much about the law regarding such dealings but I would be very surprised if this isnt a prosecutable crime.

Can they be taken to the cleaners on this? If so, it's worth doing.

by Diarmuid Mon Mar 16, 2009 16:44

Fair play to the Galway IPSC on their boycott actions and exposure of attempts by Aldi to circumvent the boycott of Israeli goods. Nice rendition of Dylan's song too (The Day When the Ship Comes in?) on the video.

Re the Cypriot Embassy, few countries are going to agree to have their exports hurt by association or confusion with another country under boycott -- even less so if they are significant competitors in the same markets.

I have found peppers in Tesco in Dublin being sold as "produce of Israel or Spain" and will be raising this with the Dublin branch of IPSC.

It seems clear that the boycott actions need to be stepped up a bit to be effective. Also, in reply to another correspondent on this issue, there's very few products in the the world that are ethically in the clear (not to mention environmentally). To be effective, a boycotting campaign must be quite selective.

by Michelle Clarke - Social Justice and Ethics Mon Mar 16, 2009 14:43

Fair dues to the Cyrpriot Embassy. They said no to Dunnes Stores and then more and more followed on

Ire4land needs some moral standards and a foreign operator like selling grapefruit cheaply have renamed it is never acceptable.

Social and Ethical responsibility is a must.

Think this through, take up the paper today and look at the companies on our stock exchange

Where do the majority of bananas say come from?

What about cement?

Maybe even wine or silk.........we don't know.......but we should

by DunloT - FPC Mon Mar 16, 2009 14:23

4!