 Clearer food labelling would give consumers more choice, say the MP |
Norfolk MP Richard Bacon is calling for clearer food labelling to let consumers know where it is from and standards used in its production. Clearer labelling would allow consumers to support UK farming, buy local food or choose to buy imported foods from specific countries, he said.
Mr Bacon's Food Labelling Bill received an unopposed first reading in the Commons on Monday.
But is unlikely to become law due to lack of parliamentary time.
The Norfolk South MP wants the government to demand "clearer, more accurate and more honest information" in food labelling.
 |  Whatever consumers decide, they cannot make informed choices without accurate information at the point of sale and this requires clear food labelling  |
He told the Commons that under current laws, lambs raised in France and slaughtered in the UK can be labelled "product of Britain". Producers can legally add a Union flag and phrases such as "great British recipes" to packets of imported meat.
He said UK farmers had to observe some of the highest animal welfare standards in the world and often faced unfair competition from imported food produced to inferior animal welfare standards, making it cheaper to produce.
"Whatever consumers decide, they cannot make informed choices without accurate information at the point of sale and this requires clear food labelling," he added.
Mr Bacon accused some supermarkets of "ruthless behaviour" which "forces suppliers to search out at all costs the cheapest possible source for every single ingredient, regardless of the long-term consequences for animal welfare, the environment, food safety and the future of British farming".
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