Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps his Department takes to ensure compliance with food labelling regulations for products marketed as (a) vegetarian and (b) vegan; and what penalties are applied to businesses for non-compliance with those regulations.

The fundamental principle of food labelling rules is that information provided to the consumer must not mislead and must enable the safe use of food so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy.

While there are no specific rules covering information on the suitability of food for vegetarians or vegans, the requirement that food information must not mislead consumers applies to such labels as for other voluntary labels.

Food labelling rules are enforced by local authorities. The Food Standards Agency has agreements and protocols in place to support local authorities in their work and gives guidance to explain the regulations and how they can be applied to food businesses. When assessing foodstuffs for non-compliance, Trading Standards officers adhere to an established hierarchy of enforcement actions, ranging from improvements notices to criminal charges resulting in custodial sentences and unlimited fines.