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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if she will require (a) restaurants, (b) shops and (c) takeaways to clearly label the origin of any fish products they sell.

In the UK we maintain high standards on the food information that is provided to consumers, but for practical reasons there are fewer mandatory labelling rules when food is sold loose, such as in a restaurant. Origin labelling is required for fish and most meat sold prepacked to consumers. Specific labelling rules also apply for fish and fishery products more generally under the Common Organisation of Markets Regulation and fisheries Control Regulation. If origin information, or any other information, is provided to consumers in any format including in restaurants and takeaways, it needs to be accurate and not misleading. The Government is committed to optimising the information that is available to consumers, and the Government Food Strategy sets out work that we will be taking forward on consumer information and transparency, including origin labelling.