This study, the first of its kind, essays a detailed survey of the Irish law on food labelling and its related literature. The preponderance of Irish law on food labelling may be ascribed to Ireland’s membership of the European Union. The thesis commences by describing, analysing and evaluating the legislative methods employed by the European Union. The thesis finds that the European Union proceeds in diverse ways to achieve what is assumed to be a single end instead of adopting any one method whereby each Member State simultaneously changes its own law to achieve harmony. The thesis shows, by taking specific examples such as honey, chocolate and genetically modified foodstuffs, that throughout the European Union, identical food products are marketed in different ways and with different labelling requirements, and the same product, such as yoghurt, may require to be differently labelled, depending on the national law applicable. The thesis then compares and contrasts the evolution and implementation of food labelling laws in Australia and New Zealand on the one hand, and in the United States of America on the other. The comparison between the legislative methods in these different federations and jurisdictions highlights the shortcomings inherent in the legislative machinery contemplated by the Treaty of Rome. The thesis concludes by offering several specific recommendations. In particular it demonstrates how, by altering the legislative medium from directives to regulations, many of the difficulties in European Union regulation of food labelling could be avoided. The thesis concludes by raising two wider or more general questions concerning how and to what extent diverse economic, and above all cultural interests are necessarily well served by the implementation of clear, simple and simultaneously effective laws, and how in general harmonisation of food labelling law should be best achieved.