There has been widespread coverage today (12 March), following the launch of a Government consultation looking at ways to make food labelling clearer and fairer. The announcement has been covered across a number of national and trade outlets, including The Mirror, The Independent, The Grocer, HortWeek and Pig World.
The consultation looks at ways we could improve country of origin labelling for certain goods, to make it clearer to consumers where their food has come from. It also sets out proposals to require ‘method of production’ labelling on pork, chicken and eggs. These include a mandatory tiered labelling for both domestic and imported products which would differentiate between those that fall below, meet and exceed baseline UK animal welfare regulations, which are some of the highest in the world.
The proposals aim to improve transparency on food labels, to ensure that farmers and producers of high-quality, high-welfare food are rewarded and helping consumers to make decisions that align with their values.
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.
The consultation will run for eight weeks, closing at 23:45 on 7 May 2024.