A fly in a jar of marmalade, a razor blade in minced meat and a cigarette in a fruit brack - these are just some of the foreign objects found in food products that were notified to the Food Safety Authority of Ireland's (FSAI) advice line in 2014.

According to the FSAI, its advice line received over 14,300 calls last year - an increase of 8% on 2013's figure. Almost 2,800 of these calls were complaints about food and food premises, while the remainder were requests for advice from food businesses.

Almost 1,200 of the consumer complaints related to unfit food, while over 1,000 related to suspected food poisoning or concerns about hygiene standards.

Contamination of food with foreign objects was ‘frequently reported by consumers', the FSAI noted. These included allegations of food contaminated with glass and dead maggots, a fly in a jar of marmalade, a razor blade in minced meat, a cigarette in a fruit brack, an insect in an apple tart, the tip of a knive in spare ribs and a metal bolt in a tin of grapefruit.

All such complaints were investigated by the HSE's environmental health officers.

"Consumers have become more vigilant in recent years and are now much more likely to report poor hygiene or food safety standards that they encounter. This is a welcome development and we continue to encourage anyone who has had a bad experience to report the matter to us so that the issue can be investigated directly," commented FSAI information manager, Edel Smyth.

She said that poor standards are often caused by inadequate staff training and a failure to follow best practice. However, she insisted that this is ‘inexcusable given the substantial information and resources available to assist food businesses'.

"Our advice line is an important resource for the food industry where our experts are available to assist food business owners and managers raise their standards with the best available advice. We urge food businesses to take full advantage of the information and support provided to ensure they reach their food safety legal requirements," Ms Smyth added.

The FSAI advice line is open Monday to Friday, from 9am to 5pm. Call 1890 33 66 77 or email info@fsai.ie