Dairy Crest boss urges cheese origin labelling law
Country of origin labelling on milk and milk used as an ingredient in dairy products must be made mandatory, insists the head of Dairy Crest.
Mark Allen, chief executive of Dairy Crest (pictured right), said too many imported dairy products, especially cheese, were being given UK marks, duping customers into thinking they are buying British.
Writing in the Daily Telegraph, Mr Allen said: “Only dairy products made in this country from milk produced by Britain’s dairy farmers should be labelled as British.
“With an annual output of £3.8bn and directly supporting more than 50,000 jobs, British farmers put their hard work and skill into supplying top-quality milk, which in turn produces fresh, healthy and natural dairy products.
“At the moment, imported dairy products, in particular cheese, are given UK marks.
“We therefore ask the European Commission to introduce mandatory labelling for dairy products that states the country of origin of the milk and the place of manufacture of the product.”
The European Commission this week launched a request for tenders to deliver a study to assess the impact of proposed milk origin labelling.
The objective of the study is to assess whether consumers should be informed about the origin of milk, milk used as an ingredient in dairy products, and unprocessed meat other than beef, pig, poultry sheep and goat meat.
Mandatory origin labelling is already used for products such as beef, poultry honey, eggs, fruit and vegetables, bananas, olive oil and wine.
NFU chief dairy adviser Rob Newbery said he completely agreed with Mr Allen’s comments on mandatory labelling of milk products.
“We have got a voluntary labelling agreement in the UK through Dairy UK. But there are still businesses that are not adhering to that and importing cheese which is then packaged in the UK and given a British seal,” he added.
“It should be clear on all cheeses – both brands and retail-only cheeses – where the milk used to make it came from.”