EU change food labelling laws to make them more amusing
Food labelling laws are about to be changed by the European Union which might make the idea of foods being regional rather amusing, because the new labelling would insist that products have a label which states the country of origin for any ingredients.
It is expected that this new law is going to come into force in two years and it is going to mean that any meat is going to have to be labelled with a specific label telling the buyer where the meat came from. It is also the fact that if the product contains one single main ingredient that is sourced from elsewhere, this is also going to have to be declared.
This is going to create an interesting situation for regional products which are also designated by the European Union. For example, a Cornish Pasty has to come from Cornwall, but it is going to be an interesting situation if it turns out that the main ingredient in this pasty actually comes from a destination other than Cornwall.
It was initially thought that some of these products might be entitled to an exemption which meant that they would not have to comply with the new laws about stating whether ingredients come from. However, it has recently been announced that this is not going to be the case.
They commented specifically about Melton Mowbray pork pies, “Currently in order to qualify for this regional food product status the food only has to have been made in Melton Mowbray, however when this new law comes into effect the pies will still be of this special kind, but they have to state if the pork comes from a different country.” Currently companies producing these pies are only guided to use British pork, but there is no obligation for them to do so.
