Fresh must mean fresh
29 August 2009
TUV Leader Jim Allister has condemned the UK Government’s resistance to amendment of EU labelling rules which would insist that poultry meat described as “fresh” is exactly that and not capable of being previously frozen.
In a statement Mr Allister said:-
“As someone who on the Agriculture Committee in Brussels fought long and hard to secure transparency in EU poultry labelling rules, I am disappointed that our own government is trying to thwart this necessary change. It is an unacceptable con that foreign poultry meat which has been imported as frozen can nonetheless be labelled as “fresh”. It puts local poultry produce at a competitive disadvantage. Thus, it is wrong and adverse to the interests of our indigenous industry that the UK Government is trying to block this change.
Consumers are entitled to know exactly what they are buying and should be able to place reliance on what it says on the label. At present they can not. Hence, the necessity for the labelling change proposed across the EU.”
