It seems like it should be a simple task, we just want to know what we are eating. But recent revelations about horsemeat in beef ready meals, pork in beef pies, and now even suspicions of donkey meat labelled as beef on supermarket shelves. This all demonstrates that we can’t trust what food labels tell us. Compassion has a simple solution; join us in calling for food labels that tell the whole truth.
The recent scandals are revealing the true nature of the cheap meat production system, and it isn’t a pretty picture. The corruption and contamination issues are just the tip of the iceberg. The scale and complexity of the food chain are not just bad news for consumers, they are also a disaster for animal welfare.
With more than 80% of the EU’s farm animals being factory farmed in inhumane conditions; confined, overcrowded, unable to express natural behaviours, pumped full of antibiotics, undertaking long journeys or suffering painful mutilations – the animals that go into many meat products are likely to have endured a great deal of suffering in their short lives.
The only Donkeys involved in this scandal, should be the ones in the Government and the ones at DEFRA!
The recent scandals about misleading food labels have revealed some of the true nature of the production of cheap meat. Corruption and contamination issues are just the tip of the iceberg. The animals that go into many meat products are likely to have endured a great deal of suffering in their short lives. Misleading labelling isn’t just bad news for consumers, it is a disaster for animal welfare.
It doesn’t have to be this way. Compassion has a simple solution; we want food labels that tell the whole truth. We know that consumers are interested in animal welfare. We know that clear labelling leads to an increase in sales of higher welfare animal products. We need labels that tell us the whole truth about what is in our food, and how it was produced.
Click Here and have a vote.
Later....
It’s not as easy as that with food labelling and tracing.
ReplyDeleteYears ago we use to keep just a few sheep and every now and then a couple would go off to the local slaughterhouse.
As we knew the age of all the sheep and all were kept in exactly the same conditions the quality of the carcasses was also very constant. Probably as good as you could get.
However on of our carcasses that we sold to a friend was tough as old boots.
We strongly suspect some else had a nice tender young lamb and we had their tough one. Something we could never prove. So even these butchers who say they know where the animal came from can’t be 100% sure if there is someone who is a bit bent in the chain.
Hi Brian and Diana.
DeleteI can see that there is so much to be put right in the way of managing the quality of food. Especially where that goes off for processing into something unrecognisable. We need to have trust the label. I suppose the one saving grace in your experience was that it was recognisable as lamb. Even if it was fit only for shoe leather.
Regards...
Mick n Mags
This really is a bug bear of mine.
ReplyDeleteWhy are people so shocked that they dont know what they are eating. If you are going to buy cheap "products" then you cant expect it is going to be the best quality product.
What has truely shocked me is the number of countries involved in making a £1 lasagne. It just doesnt seem right.
When you look at the price of a cheap ready prepared meal. The more worrying thing for me is that when you factor in the costs of all the transport. As the meat does a round of three or four countries in Europe. Add all the processing costs. Plus there must be a profit at some point.
DeleteI'll never be able to look a scotch egg in the eye again.
Mick