THE loophole in food product labelling was exposed again recently in a Tesco supermarket in Gwynedd – the heart of Welsh lamb producing country.

NFU Cymru has condemned the UK labelling laws which mean customers are often misled about the country of origin of the food they are purchasing.

The union has been contacted by a Tesco customer who bought slow cooked lamb shanks from the Tesco Finest range. On the bottom right hand side of the label was the word “BRITISH” in large capital letters written across a photograph of the green fields of the Yorkshire Dales.

Who could have blamed this customer for believing that this was British lamb? However, in very small writing on the label it said that the meat was in fact marinated New Zealand lamb. As the product was prepared in the UK, the law as it stands today allows this to happen.

The law in this case is clearly an ass. Until she arrived back home, this particular customer thought she was buying British lamb and was supporting our farmers at a time of low prices.

Clearly the message to customers who want to buy British is to look out for the Red Tractor label but also not to be fooled by the clever marketing ploys of retailers.

Both the customer in question and NFU Cymru have written to Tesco about what can in this case only be described as misleading marketing practices.

Clearly the law in this area is still weak and to prevent this happening again, we need to see this loophole closed. NFU Cymru will continue its campaign to ensure that there is a change in legislation in order that our struggling primary producers get fair play.

Examples such as this only strengthen our resolve to get something done urgently, particularly on the labelling of ready meals.

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