Misleading 'British' meat claims challenged by EU vote - 2010-03-16

A European Parliament committee has voted for new rules to stop companies from misleading consumers by saying that products made with foreign-reared meat are British.

In a vote on Tuesday 16 March on EU-wide food labelling laws, the parliament's committee on public health supported a mandatory requirement for companies to tell consumers where the animals used to make their meat products were reared.

At present the processing of a food in the UK can allow companies to label it as British, even though the meat could have come from an animal that was reared and slaughtered abroad. 

It means that processed foods, like sausages and ready-meals, as well as prepared products such as pre-packed sandwiches, can be labelled as British even if they don't contain British meat.

Glenis Willmott MEP, Labour's leader in the European Parliament, was leading the call for stronger consumer rights in the committee discussions.

She said: "If you buy food labelled as British, you would rightly expect any meat in it to have come from British farms. Yet currently you have no way of checking whether that's really the case. So your chicken-salad sandwich might say it's British, but the chicken could have come from Thailand.

"Today's vote is the latest step in our campaign to ensure that manufacturers are honest with consumers about where their products come from."

The proposals are supported by the National Farmers' Union and consumer groups.

The committee also supported a call for consumers to be told whether egg-based foods, such as quiches and mayonnaise, came from battery-farmed or free-range hens.

However MEPs rejected a call for traffic light labelling of foods, which would make it far easier for shoppers to quickly determine whether a product is high in things like fats, calories and sugars.

Labour's Euro-MPs have vowed to continue to push for this type of labelling, which is strongly supported by consumer and health groups. They will have a chance to strengthen the rules when the committee's proposals are put to the whole parliament for approval, probably in May.

The final food labelling rules will need to be agreed jointly by the European Parliament and government ministers from the EU member states.

Today's vote comes against a background of intense lobbying by food manufacturers who have been trying to limit the amount of information they are required to give consumers.

Glenis, who is also Labour's European spokesperson on public health, added: "The big food manufacturers have poured huge resources into trying to stop people from knowing the facts about what they eat.

"Against a background of intensive lobbying, Labour MEPs are standing up for consumer rights.

"We know that people want this kind of information and health professionals are clear that it would help in the battle against obesity, heart disease and diabetes. So why are manufacturers so afraid of telling people what's in their food?

"We'll continue to do whatever we can to help shoppers make an informed choice about what they eat and drink."

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