Labelling laws make a turkey out of consumers

British farmers have attacked labelling laws that allow the supermarket, which has never imported turkeys before, to put the Brazilian stamp in small print on the back of the turkey.

Charles Bourns, chairman of the NFU poultry board, said many consumers would not look at the small print and would assume the bird was British.

He said ‘hidden labels’ were a ‘blow’ for a beleaguered industry.

“While I don’t like it, I can understand that supermarkets sometimes need to import turkeys to top up their supply.

“British turkey production has come down from around 49 million birds ten years ago to about 15 million today.

“I can also understand why, particularly in these difficult times, people will want to save £6 or £7 by going for an imported turkey.

“But I cannot understand why we cannot have clearer labels so consumers know where it is their turkey is from. That way consumers would be able to support the British industry if they wanted to,” said Mr Bourns.

However, Chris Brown, Asda head of ethical and sustainable sourcing, said ‘just 2 per cent’ of Asda turkey sales would be from abroad this Christmas and all were ‘clearly labelled with the country-of-origin’.

“The vast majority of what we’re selling – fresh and frozen – are from British farms,” he added.

Turkey farmer Matthew Willis, from Northallerton, Yorkshire, said: “My family has been rearing turkeys in Yorkshire for two generations and this Christmas we’ve reared more fresh turkeys for Asda shoppers than ever before.”

A spokesman from Asda later told Farmers Guardian that all turkeys would be sourced from British farms in 2010.

“We are not going to Brazil next year. We will do whatever it takes to source British,” said the spokesman.

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