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National Country of Origin Labelling Evaluation

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National Country of Origin Labelling Evaluation Campden Technology Limited Station Road Chipping Campden Gloucestershire GL55 6LD, UK Tel: +44 (0)1386 842000 Fax: +44 (0)1386 842100 www.campden.co.uk Information and Legislation Department National Country of Origin Labelling Evaluation Commissioned by: DEFRA Prepared by: Reviewed by: Dr David Leeks John Hammond Ann Wood This report shall not be reproduced except in full, without written approval of Campden BRI. Defra Project Code: FO0433 Defra Project Officer: Janet McKenzie Campden BRI Project Manager: John Hammond Our Reference: I+L/REP/123215/Final Date: 26 May 2011 Campden Technology Limited, Registered no. 3836922, Incorporated in England & Wales Registered Office: Station Road, Chipping Campden, Gloucestershire. GL55 6LD Part of Campden BRI Group Information emanating from Campden BRI is given after the exercise of all reasonable care and skill in its compilation, preparation and issue, but is provided without liability in its application and use. Contents Executive Summary 1. Aims and Objectives 2. Method 2.1 Sampling Plan 2.2 Shopping 2.3 Assessment 2.4 Imaging 2.5 Data analysis 2.6 Error rate determination 2.7 Statistical analysis 3. Results and Discussion 3.1 Meat Products 3.1.1 Lightly Processed Products 3.1.2 Composite Meat Products 3.1.3 All Meat Products 3.2 Dairy Products 3.2.1 Liquid Milk and Fresh Cream 3.2.2 Cheese and Butter 3.2.3 All Dairy Products 4. Conclusions 5. Glossary 6. References 7. Acknowledgements Annex 1.1 Meat Products Summary Table 1.2 Dairy Products Summary Table Annex 2 List of assessed foods and exact wording of origin statements Annex 3 Products purchased and assessed Annex 4 Principles of Country of Origin Information Annex 5 Assessment form Annex 6 Guidance for Assessors Executive Summary Background Information on the origin of a food product is voluntary for some foods and compulsory under the law for others1. Additional information on the origin of individual ingredients may be provided voluntarily on foods. Under current labelling rules the place of origin is considered to be the place of last substantial change2. On 24 November 2010, new guiding voluntary principles on country of origin labelling formalised measures that provide consumers with clear, accurate information on the origin of their food. Principles on Country of Origin Information(1), developed by key bodies representing food retailers, food manufacturers, commercial caterers and the hospitality trade, is based on the labelling practices of the best performers in the food chain. The Principles apply to meat, processed meat products and milk, fresh cream, cheese and butter. They ensure that the term "British" can only be used for meat from animals born and reared in the UK, and that liquid milk and fresh cream are labelled with the country of origin of the milk. This evaluation is primarily intended to provide a benchmark for future assessments of uptake of the Principles. Approach During April 2011 over 500 foods were purchased on-line and in-store from major supermarkets, convenience stores and discounters. 335 samples were composite or lightly processed meat and meat products. The remaining 182 samples were dairy products in the form of liquid milks, creams, butter and cheese. Almost 60% of the products were marketed under a retailer's own name or brand, the remainder being branded items. To provide a visual archive of the products, the samples were photographed, often from several angles, in order to include all aspects of the labels. By recording origin-related aspects of each product label, experienced food law advisers determined the extent to which the guiding voluntary principles had been followed. 1 For some foods such as unprocessed beef and veal, and poultrymeat from outside the EU, origin labelling is required by law. For other foods general food labelling rules currently require that details of the place of origin or provenance of a food are only required to be given if their omission might mislead the purchaser to a material degree as to the food’s true origin. 2 Although “place of provenance” is not defined in the Food Labelling Regulations 1996, the Trade Descriptions Act 1968 regards foods as having been “manufactured or produced” in the country in which they last underwent a treatment or process resulting in a substantial change. Under World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules, the country of origin of a product is considered to be the place of “last substantial change”. Deciding whether or not a particular location is indeed where the last substantial change took place can sometimes be difficult. Summary The Principles provide best practice advice for the origin labelling of the products within their scope. The most basic advice concerns whether a product should be labelled with an origin statement at all, given that this is often voluntary under the labelling legislation, and then whether this statement should address the origin of the meat/dairy ingredient or the place of the product’s manufacture. This survey of origin labelling in the market place is best able to assess whether this basic advice is being followed. 66% of lightly processed meat products gave a basic origin statement in the form advised in the Principles, while for composite products, where the Principles allow for an origin statement to be absent, statement compliance was 75%. With a little adjustment for composite products considered to be giving non-origin information in a way which could confuse as to origin, overall compliance for composite products, on those parts of the Principles where clear conclusions could be drawn, was 73%. Overall compliance for meat products came out at 70%. For dairy products and particularly fresh cream and butter, compliance with the basic origin statement advice of the Principles varied markedly. One out of six cream samples were compliant, compared with all 15 of butter samples. However, given the small sample sizes care needs to be taken in over interpreting these figures. The interpretation of certain origin statements on milk may need further discussion and elucidation in the Principles, but slightly over half of all liquid milks bore origin statements judged to be in compliance with the Principles. Cheese statement compliance was 77%, giving an overall statement compliance rate for dairy products of 65%. Own-label products performed markedly better than branded products against the Principles. For both branded meat products and branded dairy products, compliance with the Principles was just over 50%. Own- label meat products achieved a level of compliance of 85% and own-label dairy products, 73%. Areas where interested parties may wish to look again at the Principles are in relation to: • clarity on interpretation of liquid milk origin statements; • clarity on labelling which fulfils a non-origin information function but may, by design or otherwise, imply origin; and • how to define those meat products sufficiently characterised by meat that they are within the scope of the Principles. 1. Aims and Objectives Statutory food labelling requirements(2) aim to ensure that consumers are provided with details of the place of origin or provenance of a food if failure to give such particulars might mislead a purchaser to a material degree as to the true origin or provenance of the food. Although there is no statutory definition of “place of origin or provenance” in the Food Labelling Regulations 1996 that can assist the labeller when an origin statement is required, in the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Rules, the country of origin is deemed to be the place of last substantial change. This is (3) consistent with the Trade Descriptions Act 1968, as amended , which states that: “goods are deemed to have been manufactured or produced in the country in which they last underwent a treatment or process resulting in a substantial change.” Using this definition, food labellers, and ultimately the courts, have to decide, taking account of an ordinary person’s perception of the circumstances surrounding the individual case, whether or not any particular country or place specified is indeed where the last substantial change took place. An additional complication arises where the place of origin of the food is not the same as the place of origin of its primary ingredients. For a steak pie made in the UK using French beef, the last substantial change took place in the UK, but an origin statement revealing only that the product was made in the UK may be considered to give insufficient information for consumers. A statement of this type may even be potentially misleading if the label also carries other information that may imply origin, such as the Union Flag, and the origin statement does not successfully correct a misleading impression created by the flag. In 2002 the Food Standards Agency, which was then responsible for origin labelling therefore published Guidance on Country of Origin Declarations which was subsequently revised and reissued in October 2008(4). Also during 2008 the European Commission published a Proposal for a Food Information Regulation(5). Now in the final stages of negotiation, if this proposal becomes law the legal requirements for giving origin information may well change. For beef and veal separate statutory rules already apply (Regulations (EC) No 1760/2000 and (EC) No 1825/2000), and the required information would be the places of birth, rearing and slaughter. Against this background, on 24 November 2010, new voluntary principles on country of origin labelling formalised measures that provide consumers with clear, accurate information on the origin of their food. Principles on Country of Origin Information(1), developed by key bodies representing food retailers, food manufacturers, commercial caterers and the hospitality trade, is based on the labelling practices of the best performers in the food chain. The Principles apply to meat, processed meat products including sausages, bacon and ham, and also to liquid milk, fresh cream, cheese and butter.
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