Tesco Brought to Task over Misleading Lamb Labelling
Following concerns raised by NFU Cymru last month regarding the misleading labelling of lamb on sale in a Tesco store in Gwynedd, the supermarket has agreed to rebrand the product.
During the summer NFU Cymru's Chairman for Mid Gwynedd, John Gwynant Hughes was contacted by a Tesco customer who bought slow cooked lamb shanks from the Tesco Finest range. On the bottom right hand side of the label was the word BRITISH in large capital letters written below a photograph of the green fields of the Yorkshire Dales. However, in very small writing on the label it said that the meat was in fact marinated New Zealand lamb.
John Gwynant Hughes said, "Once this matter was brought to our attention, we immediately contacted Trading Standards asking them to look into the misleading labelling of the product. Tesco has since stated that the lamb was part of a range of products labelled 'British' in reference to the way it is prepared, in the same way as pasta would be labelled 'Italian', and should not be taken as indication that the ingredients are in fact British.
"Obviously labelling a product in such a way is likely to cause confusion to consumers, so I'm very pleased to hear that the supermarket has agreed to rebrand its 'British' range and that it will now be known instead as 'Classics'. Hopefully this will mean that Tesco shoppers who are keen to support the Welsh lamb industry at this critical time will no longer be fooled into buying imported lamb masquerading as local produce."
However, despite Tesco's decision to review its labelling, there is still a loophole in the law which allows products prepared in this country, which don't necessarily contain British ingredients to be sold as British.
Mr Hughes concluded, "Clearly the law in this area is weak and to prevent this happening again, we need to see this loophole closed. NFU Cymru will continue its campaign to ensure that there is a change in legislation in order that our struggling primary producers get fair play. Examples such as this only strengthen our resolve to get something done urgently, particularly on the labelling of ready meals."
