Shooting organisations and those who work in the game meat industry are emphasising the importance of clear meat supply chains and labelling in the wake of the public horse meat scandal.
With demand for locally and responsibly sourced meat such as venison already on the rise, the events of recent weeks have alerted the public to the importance of knowing the origin of food – something the Countryside Alliance was keen to hit home.
Executive chairman Barney White-Spunner said: “Mandatory country of origin labelling on all meat products has been a long-standing campaign of the Countryside Alliance.
“It is clear to us that more stringent country of origin labelling would foster improved traceability systems, making it harder for unlabelled meat to enter the food chain.”
The CA also provided a briefing to MPs for a debate on meat standards on 14 February.
The briefing said: “The lack of mandatory country of origin food labelling continues to place British farmers at a disadvantage when much of their competition comes from producers in countries, which are not subject to such robust animal welfare legislation and standards and the associated costs.”
It also drew attention to the Alliance’s 2011 poll that indicated that 90 per cent of the public thought only meat that was “born, reared and slaughtered in Britain” should be labelled with the British flag.
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