January 30, 2009
UK supermarkets face crackdown on meat labelling
British government ministers have told supermarkets to stop selling processed food containing cheaper foreign meat with labels suggesting it was British.
Environment Minister Hilary Benn said that retailers were undermining the government's drive to persuade shoppers to buy British and putting the government's policy on food security and animal welfare at risk.
Benn said Britain was lobbying for new European laws that would outlaw a labelling loophole which allows grocery chains to mark products as being "produced in the UK" if the last significant change to it took place in Britain, even if the main ingredient came from abroad.
