Andrew Turner, MP for the Isle of Wight has backed the Conservative Party’s nationwide ‘Honest Food’ campaign, which aims to get meat products labelled as ‘British’ to use meat from livestock born and bred in the UK.
This follows recent widely publicised cases of misleading labelling on products sold as ‘UK Produced’ but in fact containing meat from other EU countries or even from as far afield as Brazil and Thailand. This has affected such household names as Tesco, Sainsbury, Marks & Spencer and Bird’s Eye.
Under current rules, products finally processed in the UK but containing meat from abroad can legally be labelled ‘British’, often on the front of the packaging.
Even products displaying the Union Jack may not necessarily be made from British meat. Only closer inspection of the back of the packaging may reveal the true origin of the contents, and can sometimes not even identify a single country as the source.
The problem can affect anything from sandwiches, ready meals and pies, to bacon, sausages, pork and chicken. UK meat is produced to some of the highest welfare standards in the world and Mr Turner believes that consumers have a right to have the country of origin to be clearly labelled in order that they are not being deceived.
Mr Turner said:
“I believe consumers need to know the full facts if they are to make informed choices.”
Knowing that many Island residents show support for Island farmers by buying Island products because of the reassurance that brings regarding everything from food quality to air miles and animal welfare conditions, states that “This campaign wants to give the same confidence to people who choose to buy products labelled as ‘British'”.
Whilst emphasising that this is not a protectionist campaign (which would anyway be illegal under EU Law), Mr Turner believes the campaign will simply allow consumers to know where they stand whilst safeguarding the reputation of Britain’s local farmers in terms of the quality of their meat and the high welfare standards to which it raised.
The campaign has been given the backing of celebrity chefs and a host of organisations including the National Famers Union, the RSPCA, Compassion in World Farming and the Countryside Alliance.
Further information about the campaign can be found at the Honest Foods Web site.
