The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) in the East Midlands says its campaign for local food has been vindicated further following revelations that ’Lincolnshire’ sausages, sold by one of Britain’s most famous food brands, are actually made with frozen pork from Germany.
According to a Sunday Telegraph investigation, Walls, a company which boasts its sausages have been ’savoured’ by British households for more than 200 years, has admitted sourcing at least half its meat from intensive pig farms on the Continent. Although its sausages are described as Lincolnshire or Cumberland on the packet, Walls says that was only a recipe and has no bearing on the origin of the meat in them, which is sourced in Denmark, Holland and Germany as well as the UK.
The practice is completely legal but highlights a loophole in labelling laws that has led to accusations that consumers are being misled over the origins of their food and unable to make proper choices over what to buy. Supermarkets and manufacturers do not have to say where processed food comes from and can even claim products are ’British made’ – even when the main meat ingredient is imported from abroad – provided they are manufactured in this country.
Lincolnshire CLA member, Meryl Ward of Uncle Henry’s Farm Shop and Café in Gainsborough, said: "Customers deserve honest labelling so that they can make genuine choices on the provenance of the food that they eat. Current labelling legislation provides large loopholes allowing retailers to source meat from whichever country that provides them with the biggest margin and then the product is disguised with local packaging.
"The only way that customers can be sure is by shopping locally and asking for the names of the farmers who produced the meat. Uncle Henry’s always uses meat from its own pig farms, which is slaughtered locally and then prepared on-site. Customers benefit from welfare assurances and great tasting meat."
Rural watchdog, the CLA, fully supports ventures like Uncle Henry’s and has urged people to do more to support producers by sourcing food locally.
CLA regional spokesman, Tim Barnes-Clay said "Over the last three years the CLA has been hugely successful in promoting its Just Ask Campaign, where people are encouraged to ask where the food they are served comes from.
"Buying British supports local farms and food producers but ambiguous labelling does not provide shoppers with the full picture about where the food they purchase actually comes from."
The CLA also claims that public procurement of locally produced food is inadequate. It says that out of the public sector food annual budget of £1.8bn, only two per cent, or £36m, is spent on local food nationally.
