Government to consult on meat and dairy labelling
Campaign groups have called for labels to provide more information about welfare standards.
The UK Government has said that it will launch a “rapid” consultation on making food labelling clearer so that shoppers can more easily tell when meat and dairy products were produced to UK welfare standards.
The Government hopes that the potential changes will help consumers make informed choices when buying food, as well as support UK farmers who adhere to higher welfare standards than some foreign producers.
The proposals include bringing labelling for lightly processed meats into line with unprocessed meats, so that meat produced abroad but then processed in the UK cannot be sold as “British”.
The consultation was announced by environment secretary Steve Barclay during his speech at the 2024 Oxford Farming Conference.
Speaking to delegates, Mr Barclay said: “British farmers are rightly proud of producing food that meets and often exceeds our world leading animal welfare and environmental standards. And British consumers want to buy this top-quality food.
“But too often products produced to lower welfare standards overseas aren’t clearly labelled to differentiate them.”
A previous plan for a consultation on mandatory animal welfare labelling on food products was dropped by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in July, following industry criticism.
Anthony Field, head of Compassion in World Farming’s UK office, said: “Whilst it’s welcome to propose consistent and mandatory labelling across all meat and dairy products, unfortunately these proposals appear to be a poor relation to what was originally on the table – labelling that would include animal welfare information.
“It is imperative that meat and dairy labels not only include the country of origin, but also the method of production.”
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