Consultation on fairer food labelling

Overview

Evidence shows that consumers want to buy high-quality food, however, it can be difficult for them to clearly identify where food comes from and how it is produced. We want to make it easier for consumers to make informed decisions when purchasing food and allow them to choose products that align with their values. This consultation seeks views on proposals to improve transparency and consistency  through improved country of origin, and animal welfare labelling in the UK. 

The UK government, the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and the Northern Ireland Executive are jointly publishing this consultation.   

Our proposals cover two areas: 

Country of origin labelling 

Origin information is mandatory on some food but not on others. Consumers often express the view that origin information is important to them and food growers and producers also want people to know where their food has been made and grown. 

We are seeking views and evidence on possible interventions that may improve consumer understanding of the origin of certain foods, including how and where origin information is displayed, and on which products origin information should be mandatory. 

Method of production labelling 

We are seeking views on proposals to provide clearer information to consumers about the production system in which animals were reared. We are seeking views on: 

• a mandatory label covering pork, chicken and eggs applying to both domestic and imported products.  
• a label with five tiers and underpinning standards that are primarily based on method of production, differentiating between products that fall below, meet and exceed relevant baseline UK welfare regulations.  
• this would apply to all unprocessed pork, chicken and eggs and certain prepacked and loose minimally processed products with pork, chicken or egg. 
• the draft production standards (Annex B) which set out possible requirement to be met for each tier 

To address existing market failures and deliver on government commitments, our proposed method of production labelling reforms aim to: 

• make it easy for consumers to choose food products that align with their values by ensuring that UK baseline and higher welfare products are accessible, available and affordable. 
• support farmers meeting or exceeding baseline UK welfare regulations by ensuring they are rewarded by the market. 
• improve animal welfare by unlocking untapped market demand for higher welfare products. 

What happens next 

When this consultation ends, we will summarise the responses and place this summary on our website at: http://www.gov.uk/defra. This summary will include a list of organisations that responded but not personal names, addresses or other contact details. 

The responses to the consultation will help us to finalise the future shape of policy in this area.