False claims about local food

Pubs, restaurants and shops have been visited by Derbyshire County Council's trading standards team to check that their food labelled as 'home made' and 'local' is correct.

The team checked on a wide range of food from cakes to bacon, cheese to fudge to discover exactly where the food was sourced and produced.

Out of 34 products checked, nine were found to have misleading claims that they were either home made or local.

In one instance a shop was found to be claiming to sell Bakewell sausages that were actually manufactured 15 miles away in Crich.

In another case meat labelled as Derbyshire Dales free range pork was found to only be sourced from Staffordshire.

In total the survey revealed nine offences under the Food Safety Act 1990 in relation to falsely describing food and two offences under the General Food Regulations in relation to the traceability of documentation.

Five of the premises will be sent warning letters and at least one will get a follow up visit.

Derbyshire County Council's cabinet member for community safety Clive Moesby said: "If people have misleading information on which to base their choices on, then our local producers and suppliers will be missing out."

"It is important if businesses are selling produce that makes local claims that they check the description is accurate first."

Words: Maria Bracken

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