Agricultural Products: Origin Marking
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that imported food products do not use British branding.
Answered by Dame Angela Eagle
All food sold on the UK market, including that which is imported, must comply with UK food labelling rules. The fundamental principle of the UK’s food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable the safe use of food.
Under existing rules, food that is not classed as UK origin cannot be sold or labelled as being British. Processed foods and composite foods manufactured in the UK are British products, but if these contain a primary ingredient that is not British then a British claim can only be made on the label if the label also highlights that the primary ingredient is not British.
Food simply re-packaged in the UK, without any further processing, does not confer UK origin on it.
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