Food labelling must be clearer

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has called on food companies to give consumers clearer information on where their food comes from.

He made the call as he urged people to "buy more British and eat more British" and stressed that protecting the environment is vital to increasing food production.

Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference, Hilary Benn said: "When you buy a car you know its service history. When you buy a house you get a detailed survey. So why do we accept knowing so much less about what we are putting into our bodies?

"Under current European regulations, a pork pie processed in Britain from Danish pork can legitimately be labelled as a British pie. That's a nonsense and it needs to change."

He said that while the Government was pressing in Europe to improve labelling so that it shows where an animal is born, reared and slaughtered, he planned to meet food industry representatives to discuss how they could "get ahead here by voluntarily introducing country of origin labelling." 

Hilary Benn praised the quality and quantity of food produced by British farmers and said that food security was a priority: "I want British agriculture to produce as much food as possible. No ifs, no buts.

"We could produce more fruit and vegetables here in the UK - the market is there, so what's holding us back? If there's demand then production should follow. So the answer is to buy more British and eat more British."

Words: Clare Riley

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