Source:  John Strak, MEATINGPLACE.COM, 11/26/10
 

The British government and the food processing industry have agreed to voluntary principles that should underlie country of origin labeling in the United Kingdom.

The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) which represents food manufacturers, issued a press statement  heralding the agreement with the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
“We agree that consumers should not be misled with regard to the origin of a food product and our members are committed to providing clear, honest labelling. The new voluntary principles build on current legislation to provide even clearer labelling for consumers,” FDF Director of Communications Julian Hunt said in the statement.

“I am pleased that a large number of food companies have already committed to follow the principles agreed today and are encouraging others to also do so,” said Food and Farming Minister Jim Paice.

For meat the key principles of country of origin labeling require that:
• All unprocessed meat should be labeled with country of origin.
• All single country of origin labeling should be limited to meat from animals born and reared in the specified country (or, in the case of poultry, reared in the specified country).
• The use of 'British' should be restricted to meat from animals born and reared in the UK (or, in the case of poultry, reared in the UK).
• Where the animal has been born and reared in different countries additional information will be provided to make this clear.
For processed meat products further requirements include:
• Label “lightly” processed products such as bacon, ham, gammon, sausages and burgers with the origin of the meat ingredient.
• Limit all single country of origin labeling to processed products containing meat from animals born and reared in the specified country (or, in the case of poultry, reared in the specified country).
• Limit the use of 'British' to processed products containing meat from animals born and reared in the UK (or, in the case of poultry, reared in the UK).

Where the animal has been born and reared in different countries additional information will be provided to make this clear.

In other composite products (e.g. pies, casserole etc) where a voluntary origin declaration is made, label the country of origin of the meat ingredient if the meat is considered of primary interest to the consumer or a predominant component of the product.

Where the meat is sourced from multiple countries this is made clear either by naming the countries (e.g. produced in the UK with meat from Thailand and/or Brazil), stating “product of multiple countries”, defining a geographical area (e.g. product of the EU, product of South America or product of Scandinavia) or by stating that the origin of the primary ingredients is different from the origin of the product e.g. “Produced in the UK from imported beef.”

Origin claims using UK flags, British imagery (such as icons or landmarks), or any suggestion of British or local origin through the product name or description (e.g. “British Classic”) is limited to products where the meat originates from the UK.

The FDF statement also requires that origin information should be placed either on the label or in close proximity to the product (where not pre-packed).

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