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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to prevent low-welfare producers from evading labelling requirements.

The UK maintains high standards on the information that is provided on food labels so that consumers can have confidence in the food that they buy. All food sold on the UK market must comply with food labelling rules, which include the requirement for specific information to be presented in a specific way. An underpinning rule of existing legislation is that food information, whether it be mandatory or is provided voluntarily, must not mislead.

We are considering the potential role of method of production labelling reform as part of the ongoing development of the Government’s wider animal welfare strategy.