A third of food labels claiming produce is local are wrong – Daily Express

British consumers could be eating halal lamb from New Zealand unknowingly, because it is incorrectly labelled as Welsh. The Daily Express has revealed that a third of food labels claiming that produce is local are wrong.

Grilled Lamb Chops Scotta Dita (by Chris Chen ) / CC BY-ND 2.0

This news adds to growing concern that the British public is being pushed into eating halal meat, underlining the importance of Operation Nehemiah’s active campaign to require accurate labelling of meat products.

In a separate report, The Scottish Farmer last month claimed that 25 to 30 per cent of British lambs are slaughtered according to halal rules. The estimate comes as meat industry researcher EBLEX claims that demand for sheep meat would increase in the UK if the industry worked more closely with the Muslim community to gain wider acceptance for halal mainstream production and slaughter practices.

EBLEX sector director Nick Allen warned that halal meat has to be marketed better in the UK to attract more Muslims into larger retailers. He said that the trade had a history of sourcing lamb products from New Zealand, which could offer assurances that it had been authenticated as halal, but he added that there was also an opportunity for English suppliers if they could attain the same standards.

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Read The Scottish Farmer article - Is Halal the answer to falling demand?
Read Daily Express article - Food buyers 'conned by false labels'