Confusion over pork origins has shoppers scratching their heads

Supermarkets have been accused of confusing shoppers over the origin of the pork, bacon and gammon they stock in their stores.

Farmers union NFU Scotland (NFUS) carried out a survey looking at almost 35,000 packs of pork, bacon and gammon in 47 supermarkets across the country.

The only shops found to be offering 100% British pork, bacon and gammon were Marks and Spencer, the Co-op and Waitrose.

All others were found to be stocking fresh and processed pork, bacon and gammon from a wide range of countries of origin including the UK, Denmark, Holland, Germany and Ireland.

The union also found instances of some own-label and branded products being labelled with more than one country of origin such as ‘Germany and Holland’ or even more broadly as just ‘EU’.

NFUS said 6% of the meat surveyed had unclear or confusing country of origin labelling, 5% had mixed countries of origin labelling on the same pack, and 15% listed the EU as the country of origin.

“The lack of transparency found on some products, particularly processed goods, is alarming and is indicative of how little care is shown to label meat that is considered anything other than ‘fresh meat’,” said NFUS food chain policy manager, Lindsey Macdonald.

“It is a hard fact that the ‘last point of processing’ oval on meat packaging does not tell consumers where their meat has actually come from.

“NFUS is calling on supermarkets and brands to clearly label the origin of all their pork, bacon and gammon products in order to help their customers make informed decisions without having to find the small print somewhere on the back of a pack of bacon.

“It should never be a guessing game or an assumption to establish where your meat has come from.”

Some supermarkets are under fire from NFUS for not labelling clearly where the pork they sell comes from.