Local Food, Not So Local Afterall?
Love buying local? That Welsh lamb you bought might actually be from New Zealand, according to a new government survey.
Up to a fifth of foods labelled local in England and Wales have turned out to be anything but, according to a study carried out by Local Government Regulation inspectors. After testing 558 items in a variety of shops and restaurants, inspectors found that 18% of foods labelled as locally produced were undoubtedly false, with many more being unverifiable.
Amongst the falsely labelled items was South African Zebu (an indigenous breed of cattle) being sold as British beef, local Devon ham that turned out to be from Denmark, and Somerset brie which was in fact from France. Other fraudulent claims included falsely-labelled organic meat and battery eggs sold as free-range.