Egyptian spuds
Egyptian spuds
labelled as UK
on Safeway shelf
By A NOther
SUPERMARKET chain Safeway has been selling loose Egyptian potatoes throughout the country, describing them as "UK class 1".
The issue first came to light when a Cheshire grower contacted farmers weekly after seeing the UK signs above new potatoes in Safeways Hale store. When he contacted the manager, he was told that the potatoes were Egyptian.
In the firms Sutton branch, Surrey, shoppers told FW reporters that they believed the potatoes had been grown in the UK and were deliberately selecting them on that basis.
The store manager and members of staff initially insisted that the potatoes had been sourced in the UK and that Safeways head office had authorised the printing of the label.
But a shelf-stacker confirmed that the potatoes were Egyptian, and said the UK description had been left over from a batch of UK new potatoes sold in store the week before.
But Ronan ONeill of the British Potato Council insisted that was impossible because the UK crop was only just being planted. "The earliest marketing date for British new potatoes will be mid-April this year," he said.
An official from Safeways headquarters later confirmed that stores had mistakenly displayed incorrect country of origin product descriptions on loose Egyptian new potatoes.
The labels would be changed, and the official said the company would like to apologise to customers for any confusion caused.
"We are currently investigating how this error occurred and would like to reassure our customers that it is Safeway policy to display correct country of origin on products," she said.
A MAFF food labelling expert said that Safeway had, technically, contravened section 15 of the Food Safety Act, 1990, and could be seen to be posting misleading information about a food product.
"Whether or not the UK description was posted by mistake, the retailer has a duty to exercise due diligence in its description. Claiming the description was made in error doesnt alter this fact."
• Meanwhile, in a separate incident, Welsh trading standards officers have decided not to take action against Safeway over a pack of stewing beef labelled both "produced in the UK" and "Farm Assured Irish Beef".
They accepted it as a case of accidental mislabelling.
The label used by Safeway to describe Egyptian potatoes.