MEPs’ helping hand when buying British

Chris Davies MEP

A Rochdale MEP says he is giving the borough’s shoppers a helping hand in buying British produced groceries.

Lib-Dem Euro MP Chris Davies says shoppers get annoyed when a product claiming to be “British” turns out to be produced elsewhere and they have a right to know more about the food they are buying.

But food producers are now likely to be required to indicate the country of origin of meat and dairy products, as well as fresh fruit and vegetables, following a series of votes by MEPs.

Although the decision of the European Parliament’s Public Health Committee must still be negotiated with Ministers, there is strong support for the principle.

Mr Davies, who leads the Liberal Democrats on the Committee, said: “Shoppers are right to be angry when they see a product claiming to be ‘British’ which in fact was produced in another country and only processed and packaged here.”

The committee also left the way clear for the use of ‘traffic light’ labelling on foods to give consumers an indication of their salt, sugar and fat contents.

Controversially, MEPs voted by 34 to 28 in favour of labelling the method of slaughter of animals.

Most animals are pre-stunned before they are killed but animals slaughtered using the religious methods of dhabihah or shechita are killed without being knocked out first. Only some of the animal is then used as halal or kosher meat and the rest is sold on the open market.

The MEPs decision means that any animals slaughtered by these religious methods must be labelled as not having been pre-stunned.

Mr Davies said: “Unlike others, I’m not proposing that meat from animals killed without stunning should be banned, but I am saying that it should be labelled.

“I think this is a fair compromise between the religious convictions of some and the strong concern for animal welfare expressed by a great many of the people I represent.”