British labelling stretches the meaning of 'local'

Friday, May 6, 2011

The British Broadcasting Corporation cites a survey by Local Government Regulation (LRG) inspectors which concludes that almost a fifth of foods labelled as local in England and Wales are, in fact, not. They surveyed 558 items in 300 shops, restaurants, markets and factories.

Of the "local" claims, 18 per cent were deemed "undoubtedly false" and another 14 per cent were unverifiable.

There is no legal definition of the term "local" in British food labelling legislation, but the Food Law Practice Guidance states that local and localized should mean "sales within the supplying establishment's own county plus the greater of either the neighbouring county or counties or 30 miles/50 kilometres from the boundary of the supplying establishment's county."

Examples of "local" items that failed that test included "Welsh lamb" sourced from New Zealand, "Somerset butter" from Scotland, and "Devon ham" from Denmark. Some other cases which might raise consumers' eyebrows include ice cream marketed as local that was actually a well-known national brand and "fresh local cream" that contained vegetable fat. "West Country fish fillets" were from fish caught off that coast, but filleted in China and shipped back to England.

Restaurants were the worst offenders in percentage terms, with manufacturers having the fewest false claims.

There are no penalties for "local" fibbing in Britain. But LRG chairman Paul Bettison described the results of the survey as "extremely worrying."

"Many people want to support local businesses or choose food that has not travelled from the other side of the world, so it is vital that they have accurate information to help them make their choices." BF