Manufacturers fear ‘bureaucratic nightmare’

Manufacturers of compound food products have rejected the idea floated by environment secretary Hilary Benn that country of origin labelling should apply to their products, arguing that it would create a “bureaucratic nightmare”

Speaking at last week’s Oxford Farming conference, Benn called on supermarkets and food companies to give shoppers clearer information on where their food comes from. Specifically, he said: “Under current European regulations, a pork pie processed in Britain from Danish pork can legitimately be labelled as a British pie. That’s a nonsense and it needs to change.”

However, while welcoming more voluntary country of origin labelling on “primary produce”, Food and Drink Federation (FDF) director of food safety and science, Helen Munday, argued that such labelling should not apply to “complex products”, such as meat pies, pizzas and lasagnes, which are made from a variety of ingredients.

The FDF’s concerns echo similar worries​, which coincided with the Food Standard Agency’s publication of new guidance on country of origin labelling last November.

“We would completely agree that labelling should not mislead consumers - and there are regulations already in place to ensure that does not happen,” said Munday. “We fully support the voluntary actions by many companies who want to include country of origin on the label.

“However, we think there is a big difference between the labelling of primary produce - where country of origin is a far bigger issue of concern to consumers - and the labelling used for generic products such as meat pies, pizzas and lasagnes which are cooked using a number of ingredients, sourced from a range of suppliers.”

Munday added: “In this instance we don’t think country of origin labelling is necessary, unless its absence would mislead consumers. Creating different labels to reflect the changing origin of the ingredients used to cook such complex products would be a bureaucratic nightmare - and one that would add further, unnecessary costs to our sector at a difficult time for all food producers.”

Benn made his call for clearer country of origin labelling of food as part of a campaign to get consumers to buy and eat more British food. It has the dual aim of providing more support for hard-pressed British farmers - which also helps to ensure security of food supply in the UK - while helping to reduce the environmental impact of food production. There is growing concern about greenhouse gas emissions generated by the transport of foodstuffs across the globe.

Dairy UK, which represents the dairy supply chain from farmers to processors, welcomed Benn’s support for UK agriculture. Dairy UK director general Jim Begg said: “We have long urged the government to voice unequivocal support for our farmers and food manufacturers.

“Hilary Benn is quite right to recognise that British agriculture, food security and environmental protection go hand in hand. The UK’s vibrant dairy sector offers the best of both worlds, adhering to a set of extremely high environmental standards and committing to further improvement through the Milk Roadmap.”

However, Begg tempered his support by urging the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to invest more in critical research and development and to consider the effects of red tape and regulation on food production.