VIDEO: TV chef shames food labelling offenders
Celebrity chef Clarissa Dickson Wright has slammed retailers who sell food products with unclear or misleading labels.
Famous for her “Two Fat Ladies” TV show, the broadcaster appears in a new film released by the Conservative Party.
In the film, she highlights unclearly labelled meat products sold by major supermarkets.
One corned beef sandwich purchased at Marks & Spencer was emblazoned with Union flag and labelled “Nation’s Favourites”. But it contained meat from Brazil.
The film is part of an campaign for country-of-origin food labelling. It can be viewed here.
Tory researchers visited major supermarkets and found examples of unclear and misleading packaging on a range of meat products.
Ms Dickson Wright challenged retailers to pledge to end all unclear and misleading labelling:
“We are forever hearing that there is going to be some agreement with food retailers to stop misleading labelling, so why don’t the supermarkets stand up, be counted and pledge to do it?
“There is no doubt that the public want clear labelling and supermarkets owe it to their customers to deliver it.”
Shadow DEFRA Secretary Nick Herbert said: “Ministers announced a voluntary labelling scheme ten years ago, but these examples prove that it still isn’t clear to consumers where their meat comes from.
“It’s time for a compulsory country of origin labelling scheme so that people have proper information to enable them to choose British food with confidence.”
But the British Retail Consortium (BRC) insisted that consumers wanting UK-produced food had no trouble finding it.
Retailers supported British farmers and extensively promoted their produce, said BRC food director Andrew Opie.
“Retailers are huge supporters of UK agriculture,” he said. “The vast majority of fresh food sold in UK stores is sourced in the UK.
“Retailers run extensive promotions on UK produce, using price-cuts, advertising and labelling. Any customer going into a store for UK produce will have no trouble finding it.”
Retailers fully complied with labelling laws, said Mr Opie. They were also actively involved with Assured Food Standards.
“Its Red Tractor logo is independently audited to guarantee food origin and production standards. There is no attempt to mislead.”