NFU Cymru members in Clwyd have said they’ll continue in their vigilant stance to put a stop to confusing and misleading labelling of food products by retailers.
Speaking at the recent NFU Cymru Clwyd meeting, County Chairman Evan Roberts said, “In early 2013 the discovery of horsemeat in food products had a huge impact on shopper habits and in its wake 86% of shoppers said they were as likely or more likely to want to buy more traceable food produced on British farms. A further 78% agreed or strongly agreed that supermarkets should sell more food from British farms.
“When these surveys were repeated in 2014 the results were almost identical and an NFU Cymru consumer survey carried out this summer found 75% of the shoppers questioned believed Welsh supermarkets should sell more Welsh food than they do currently. It is therefore hugely disappointing to see continued bad practice in respect of labelling and the display of food which is often very misleading.
“Consumers can be misled by banners, signs or flags either on shelves or above them with Union Jack or Welsh Dragon flags when the products may not even be sourced from Britain or Wales. Labelling is also still very tricky to understand and as consumers we have to read the small print to find out exactly where the product was packaged and the country where the ingredients were sourced. As farmers we know that consumers are faced every day with a wide choice of what food to buy and eat.”
Mr Roberts continued, “We know that the food we produce has to be high quality, tasty, fresh and affordable if our consumers are going to buy it in preference to other alternatives. By buying Welsh and British food, we can all contribute to the nation’s economy and help to drive its recovery but of course in order to make this choice we all need to be able to readily identify what is Welsh/British and what is imported.
“It’s not rocket-science for retailers to ensure easy to read labelling and honest promotion and display of food products which clearly and simply demonstrate the origin of our food.”
