MEAT WHAT COUNTRY DID IT ACTUALLY COME FROM?

[bluebell]

alot of talk on here about the change due to leaving the EU, food standards etc, and quite rightly? but a question about meat now and previously been brought, say in the mass catering, restuarant, fast food, or catering , IE pies, readymeals, sandwiches etc the meat in these products where does this originate from, i would imagine if you are making products such as pies, ready meals buying at the cheapest prices is one of the first considerations, same as me in my company and no doubt most people , farmers as well? Isnt most meat now eaten in the UK now bought by consumer not as in grandmas day raw and from the local butcher by either in a ready meal eaten at home or a takeaway?

 

[teslacoils]

Given my child, in 18 months of "food tech" has produced only one meal (a salad) but learnt lots about diabetes etc, it's hardly surprising that folk don't know how to deal with raw meat beyond skinless chicken breast portions. I've got a book on beef rearing from the 70s basically saying "modern" housewives buy on sight and not flavour. If you buy a steak from the supermarket it's going to be crap as it's 1cm thick to make it look big in the pack.

Calf could be born in the UK, sold somewhere else, slaughtered somewhere else, processed somewhere else and packed somewhere else - where does it come from then? I'd warrant if you asked folk they would all say they want grass fed, UK beef......then see if they actually buy it.

 

[Werzle]

alot of talk on here about the change due to leaving the EU, food standards etc, and quite rightly? but a question about meat now and previously been brought, say in the mass catering, restuarant, fast food, or catering , IE pies, readymeals, sandwiches etc the meat in these products where does this originate from, i would imagine if you are making products such as pies, ready meals buying at the cheapest prices is one of the first considerations, same as me in my company and no doubt most people , farmers as well? Isnt most meat now eaten in the UK now bought by consumer not as in grandmas day raw and from the local butcher by either in a ready meal eaten at home or a takeaway?

Alot of catering meat is foreign, school meals are uk cow beef i believe . Mcdonalds is uk/ire beef, Ready meals are uk cow beef and young bull beef.

 

[Clive]

Soon there will be no EU rule to prevent us sticking BIG union flags on packages

forget red tractor etc - that flag is the best brand we could ever wish for and all consumers instinctively know whst it means

 

[yellow belly]

most people could find out how to prepare fresh meals on you tube or google

the most effective help we need is laws on proper labelling with only product grown or reared allowed us a national flag
packed in or processed in should be a smaller part of the label than grown in or reared in

 

[Muck Spreader]

Soon there will be no EU rule to prevent us sticking BIG union flags on packages

forget red tractor etc - that flag is the best brand we could ever wish for and all consumers instinctively know whst it means

There is no EU rule now or before to stop you putting a big union flag on it, so long as it is British.

 

[Clive]

There is no EU rule now or before to stop you putting a big union flag on it, so long as it is British.

i recall being told there was ? and that Red Tractor does not mean British either necessary ?

if not the case why on earth are we not doing it ? there is NO better brand for a British consumer

 

[serf]

As soon as the head is off the carcass theres no traceability, unless every cut is stamped or microchipped who knows where the meat is from , all the nonsense we go thru while animal is reared then the crooks with hooks do what they want ... farce !

 

[Muck Spreader]

i recall being told there was ? and that Red Tractor does not mean British either necessary ?

if nit why on earth ate we not doing it ? there is NO better brand for a British consumer

I don't know, certainly everything thing here of French origin will often have a French flag on it. Beef for example will also have the breed, region and a photo of one of the farmers from the coop that supplied it.

 

[Werzle]

There is an eu rule that meat from within the eu shouldnt be discriminated against by sticking a polish label etc on it, an eu label should suffice, because they know if they did it wouldnt sell . There is also a rule that meat that goes through major changes ie foreign sides of beef cut up once in the uk doesnt have to be declared as foreign origin.

 

[Farmer1001]

Soon there will be no EU rule to prevent us sticking BIG union flags on packages

forget red tractor etc - that flag is the best brand we could ever wish for and all consumers instinctively know whst it means

That deals with 40% or so of food sold/purchased in the Uk, how you going to label the rest, ie processed inc burgers, pizzas, ready made meals etc and basically everything with multiple ingredients Including health foods? Food service is the biggest route to the consumer, not Tesco shelves. Big flags alone won’t solve the problem.

most people could find out how to prepare fresh meals on you tube or google

the most effective help we need is laws on proper labelling with only product grown or reared allowed us a national flag
packed in or processed in should be a smaller part of the label than grown in or reared in

How do you label British food product’s that contains 50% ingredients from other countries without implying the whole thing is British or putting off people
from buying because 50% isn’t British therefore losing our share of the sale?

i recall being told there was ? and that Red Tractor does not mean British either necessary ?

if not the case why on earth are we not doing it ? there is NO better brand for a British consumer

“No better brand for the consumer“ - In who’s opinion? Yours or the consumer? If you mean the best they can buy is British then I agree, if you mean the consumer believes that then I’d like to see evidence. Ultimately you can have two shelves, one with “This is 100% British” And the other saying “this has been imported” - the majority of consumers will choose British but only after checking the price. Leaving the EU will not solve the labelling issue, if you think it will then you are sorely wrong. Increased access to more products, the changing dietary habits Of the consumer etc will make it harder to solve.

But what I can say is the retailers and government can do more right now to ensure products that are clearly British are not mixed up with imported, this is done so people Don’t realise they are buying non British, indeed they are mislead into actually buying one thing when they genuinely think it’s British. Likewise fake farms and fake butchers need banning!

 

[Werzle]

There is no EU rule now or before to stop you putting a big union flag on it, so long as it is British.

Trouble is there is no rule to stop foriegn meat that has been cut up in the uk carrying the union flag either, yet!

 

[Werzle]

Im all for free choice but label everything so the consumer is in no doubt of what they are eating and where its come from. Stick it in separate aisles too . Supermarkets will never agree to this because they no british will out sell foreign 3 to 1.

 

[Clive]

That deals with 40% or so of food sold/purchased in the Uk, how you going to label the rest, ie processed inc burgers, pizzas, ready made meals etc and basically everything with multiple ingredients Including health foods? Food service is the biggest route to the consumer, not Tesco shelves. Big flags alone won’t solve the problem.


How do you label British food product’s that contains 50% ingredients from other countries without implying the whole thing is British or putting off people
from buying because 50% isn’t British therefore losing our share of the sale?

“No better brand for the consumer“ - In who’s opinion? Yours or the consumer? If you mean the best they can buy is British then I agree, if you mean the consumer believes that then I’d like to see evidence. Ultimately you can have two shelves, one with “This is 100% British” And the other saying “this has been imported” - the majority of consumers will choose British but only after checking the price. Leaving the EU will not solve the labelling issue, if you think it will then you are sorely wrong. Increased access to more products, the changing dietary habits Of the consumer etc will make it harder to solve.

But what I can say is the retailers and government can do more right now to ensure products that are clearly British are not mixed up with imported, this is done so people Don’t realise they are buying non British, indeed they are mislead into actually buying one thing when they genuinely think it’s British. Likewise fake farms and fake butchers need banning!

I’m pretty sure that British consumers want to buy British if / where they can

they don’t want to learn what a red tractor may / may not mean but EVERYONE knows what a union flag means ! .......... it needs no marketing, just protection

currently they are miss led and confused

I would keep it simple and clear and reserve such a flag only for food with 100% british ingredients and process/ packing

 

[Steevo]

On the topic of "which country", can consumers really be sure which country the meat in their local butchers is from?

I ask because some butchers get their meat direct from the abattoir, but others source from a meat wholesaler which could be the same as the catering meat mentioned in the OP. Danish bacon for example.

Buying local doesn't always mean buying British, but it's easy to assume that it does.

 

[Werzle]

On the topic of "which country", can consumers really be sure which country the meat in their local butchers is from?

I ask because some butchers get their meat direct from the abattoir, but others source from a meat wholesaler which could be the same as the catering meat mentioned in the OP. Danish bacon for example.

Buying local doesn't always mean buying British, but it's easy to assume that it does.

Unless a butcher is caught selling foreign meat when advertising british or local meat then people cannot take it forgranted that a local butcher is selling all british meats.

I bought a meat box during lockdown and the bacon was prepacked foreign origin BUT the butcher hadnt advertised his meat boxes as being british .

I chucked it in the bin as a matter of principle and will not shop with them again .

Many butchers will name check a local farmer if asked where his meat comes from and they might buy the odd beast from that farmer but they sell an awful lot more than comes from wholesalers which buy imported

 

[Muck Spreader]

Trouble is there is no rule to stop foriegn meat that has been cut up in the uk carrying the union flag either, yet!

Current EU regs for food stuffs; "In summary, if the origin or provenance of a product’s primary ingredient is different to the origin or provenance currently indicated on the label of a food, food businesses may now have to provide additional information on packaging regarding the origin of the primary ingredient or ingredients. The purpose of the rules is to ensure that consumers are not misled about the origin of a product’s ingredients".

Regarding flags etc;
"an indication of origin or provenance is given in any form, including in words, pictures and symbols such as monuments or flags. They also apply where products show statements such as ‘made in’, ‘manufactured in’ and ‘produced in’".

 

[Hampton]

i recall being told there was ? and that Red Tractor does not mean British either necessary ?

if not the case why on earth are we not doing it ? there is NO better brand for a British consumer

Beats me.
Bit like when I spoke to a guy high up in Abp not long ago and he told me the only premium beef breed recognised by the customer is Angus.
I said yes, but you could easily turn Hereford beef into a premium in the West Midlands and sell it for at least the premium Angus already is.
It shows the difference between the Ahdb/red tractor and Scotbeef.
Scotbeef have turned Angus into a nationwide brand, Ahdb have done nothing.
HCC in Wales should be trying to develop welsh black in the way Scotbeef have.

 

[Hampton]

Unless a butcher is caught selling foreign meat when advertising british or local meat then people cannot take it forgranted that a local butcher is selling all british meats.

I bought a meat box during lockdown and the bacon was prepacked foreign origin BUT the butcher hadnt advertised his meat boxes as being british .

I chucked it in the bin as a matter of principle and will not shop with them again .

Many butchers will name check a local farmer if asked where his meat comes from and they might buy the odd beast from that farmer but they sell an awful lot more than comes from wholesalers which buy imported

Interestingly, the reasons they used to have for going to the meat markets are reducing as they are selling at least as many pies, lasagnes etc as steaks these days.
Years ago they would butcher a beast, sell it and buy steaks and topside from the markets to fill the shortfall whilst they waited for the rest of the beast to sell. Now, the poorer cuts are almost selling faster in ready meals than the prime.

 

[Hampton]

I know it’s dull, but I wish people on here would take the time to read the French food policy. It is exactly what we have been crying out for for years, and was entirely legal under EU laws.