UNITED KINGDOM-Supermarkets were accused last night of marketing foreign food as ’British’ after figures indicated less than 20 per cent of bacon eaten last year came from this country’s pigs.
The official data, from the Department for Food, Rural Affairs and the Environment, are in sharp contrast to a separate figures which suggest more than half of all bacon sold in supermarkets claims to be British.
This is the latest evidence to suggest shoppers are being misled about the true origin of their food and brings fresh doubt over Britain’s confusing labelling laws. Under current legislation, foreign ham or pork can legally be labelled British even if it has only been processed in this country.
Defra figures from a decade ago indicate that of the 479,000 tonnes of bacon consumed in Britain, 38 per cent came from British pigs. That proportion has almost halved over the last ten years to just 19.6 per cent, as supermarkets have relied increasingly on cheap imports.
However, The PorkWatch survey – a bimonthly study into all the pork products on sale in supermarkets across the country, and seen by the Daily Telegraph – indicates that 56 per cent of bacon is either labelled with a Union flag, or labelled as "British".
The study, conducted by the British Pig Executive, monitors the packaging at the 12 leading supermarket chains, across 280 different shops.
Mick Sloyan, chief executive of the trade body, said: "Most people tucking into a bacon sandwich probably presume that the bacon comes from British pigs. This just isn’t the case.
"The supermarkets and technology have allowed labelling to become very inventive."
The rules on meat labelling are very complex. With the exception of beef – which is regulated very closely – fresh meat does not have to display its country of origin. It can call itself British if the place where "the last substantial change" was made was in this country. That can, in theory, include slicing the ham, or stuffing a joint.
The confusion over meat labelling laws were put in the spotlight last year after the discovery of cancer causing dioxins in Irish pork. The Food Standards Agency admitted, at the time, that avoiding pork labelled as from Ireland might not have been enough.
Nick Herbert, the Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said: "Our pig farmers who adhere to higher welfare standards are being let down by food manufacturers and retailers who are buying foreign meat and labelling it as though it were British.
"While some supermarkets are supportive of clear ’country of origin’ labelling, others are not, so it’s time for a mandatory scheme. Meat labelled British should be born and bred in Britain."
The Conservatives have announced that if they were elected they would attempt to get compulsory ’country of origin’ labelling introduced, which would stop Dutch and Danish pork being used in pork pies or sausages and then labelled as British.
Evidence submitted to the Environment and Food Select Committee last year suggested that two thirds of all pork imports into the UK, "has not been reared to UK statutory welfare standards and would be illegal if produced in this country".
Both Waitrose and Marks & Spencer have recently tightened their policy on meat labelling, with Waitrose promising to sell only bacon or fresh pork from British farms.
Marks & Spencer repackaged a corned beef sandwich, which was sold in a pack covered with a Union Flag, after complaints that the beef itself came from South America.
Sir Stuart Rose, M&S’s chairman, said: "We support mandatory provision of country of origin information for fish/meat, as there is genuine consumer interest in such information."
There is growing pressure on other supermarkets to follow the lead of Waitrose and M&S and tighten up their labelling so consumers know what they are really buying.
The British Retail Consortium insisted no supermarkets were misleading their customers.
Andrew Opie, the BRC’s Food Director, said: "There is no attempt to mislead. Our members go well beyond the regulatory requirements. So customers can have full confidence that only bacon that comes from British pigs is labelled as British bacon.
