The UK Government has launched a consultation on proposed reforms to food labelling, which it claims will ensure consumers know exactly what’s in their shopping baskets.
Environment Secretary Steve Barclay backed the proposals for “fairer food labelling”. According to the Government, the new labelling will “ensure greater transparency around the origin of food and methods of production, helping consumers make decisions that align with their values.”
A consultation on the plans will run for eight weeks, closing at 23:45 on 7th May 2024. The consultation was announced by the Environment Secretary at the Oxford Farming Conference in January, and builds on commitments in the UK Government’s Food Strategy.
The consultation looks at how to improve country of origin labelling for certain goods, including how and where this information is displayed and what products should be included. For example, if imported pork is cured into bacon in the UK and features a Union Jack, exploring ways to make it more obvious to consumers that the pig was reared abroad – such as increasing the size of the country of origin text, or placing it on the front of the packet.
The consultation also seeks views on whether it should be mandatory requirement to state the origin of meat, seafood and dairy products outside of the home, for example on menus in cafes and restaurants, to give consumers access to the same information while dining out as when cooking at home.
It also sets out proposals to require ‘method of production’ labelling on pork, chicken and eggs. These include a mandatory five-tier label for both domestic and imported products which would differentiate between those that fall below, meet and exceed baseline UK animal welfare regulations.
Better information boosts demand
Environment Secretary Steve Barclay said: “This Government backs British farmers, who work hard to produce food to world-leading standards and maintain our nation’s food security. British consumers want to buy their produce, but too often products made to lower standards abroad aren’t clearly labelled to tell them apart.
“That is why I want to make labelling showing where and how food is produced fairer and easier to understand – empowering consumers to make informed choices and rewarding our British farmers for producing high-quality, high-welfare food.”
James Bailey, executive director of Waitrose, said: “We have a proud history supporting British farmers and are the leading retailer for animal welfare. Everyone deserves to know where their food comes from – how it was grown, reared or made.
“Better information boosts demand for higher standards, as we’ve seen with mandatory egg labelling. Extending this to more products benefits shoppers, farmers, and animals.
“We support the Government’s efforts to improve transparency and ensure shoppers aren’t misled, while giving farmers recognition for their commitment to animal welfare.”
Quality needs to be recognised
Fidelity Weston, chair of the Consortium of Labelling for the Environment, Animal Welfare and Regenerative Farming (CLEAR) said: “We are looking forward to the opportunity to comment on Defra’s proposed food labelling consultation and we are glad to see that progress to help the consumer understand more about how and where their food has been produced is beginning to be considered.
“We in the UK have some of the highest farming standards, producing quality food products. That needs to be recognised in the marketplace. To achieve this, we need a clear definition of the many terms used to describe the method of production, and transparency and honest data about how the food was produced on the farm, and right through to the end product.
“Through this, we have an opportunity to support the transition put in place by the Government to move the UK to more agroecological farming methods with improved outcomes for nature, the environment and people, alongside food production.”
