18 CRAFTBUTCHER l JUNE 2019


MEMBERS ADVICE REVIEW YOUR LABELS AND SIGNAGE


check all labels, signs and advertising etc. Make sure your suppliers are still supplying you with everything you think they are supplying you with.


RICHARD STEVENSON, TECHNICAL MANAGER Delivering advice to Members


I am anticipating that over the next few months regulators will be paying close attention to meat labelling, particularly country of origin labelling.


This follows the recent high-profile case of Simon Drust. He was jailed for two years and nine months for mis-labelling offences and deliberately misleading consumers. He was also fined £300,000 and ordered to pay costs of around £50,000 and had £128,000 confiscated under the proceeds of crime Act.


Drust was convicted of buying imported meat, often out of date, and re-labelling it as “Best of British”. He festooned his packs and counters with British and Union Jack stickers and did the same on advertising, website and shop-front. He also advertised selling local and organic produce.


The punishment may seem harsh at first, but It was not his first offence. He had been fined £7,000 previously for a similar charge and the prosecution was able to prove that the subterfuge had been continuous and deliberate over a long period of time.


Double Check Everything I recommend you thoroughly


It is an offence to mislead a consumer, but it is very easy for any business to inadvertently make a small mistake on a label and leave themselves open to prosecution. Most inspectors will treat a genuine first-time mistake lightly and just give you an informal warning. If you experience anything more than that then contact us as soon as possible. Operators like Simon Drust are thankfully rare in our industry so let’s hope there is no more bad news like this.


What about Supermarkets I hear you Ask?


Of course, labelling mistakes and misleading situations are not new as most of the large chains discovered during the horsegate scandal. Although they have spent millions in recent years trying to improve, they are still far from perfect.


A recent study in Scotland found that it was very difficult to establish the true country of origin of many fresh meat and meat product packs.


The report by NFU Scotland highlighted that, “In Asda and Tesco, product was very mixed up with pork from several different origins completely mixed within the same range and often with very similar packaging, making it easy for shoppers to inadvertently buy product from elsewhere whilst thinking they were buying Scottish or British.


There were plenty of products found labelled with the UK oval health mark of the meat plant that processed the product, but it was very


NEW HYGIENE SIGNS We have recently introduced for members a range of signs designed to download, print and put up around the shop and preparation areas of your business.


We have kicked off with a few basic and popular signs such as “NOW WASH YOUR HANDS” and “RAW MEAT ONLY”.


We will add more signs later. Let me know if you have any requests by contacting richard@nationalcraftbutchers.co.uk


Your EHOs will love these signs because they clearly demonstrate that you take hygiene seriously.


They are branded as “NATIONAL CRAFT BUTCHERS”, “HORSHAM DISTRICT COUNCIL” and “PRIMARY AUTHORITY”, which will give the signs much additional credibility.


You can download the signs from the members area of the website. It’s a good idea to print on thicker paper or card and laminate them.


NB Although the signs carry the logo of Primary Authority you will not be covered by the scheme if you are not registered.


Registration for Primary Authority is simple. Just call the office tel: 01892 541412


difficult to ascertain the country of origin of the meat.


There is frustration from shoppers that Tesco continues to mislead consumers by


selling non-British product under its brand ‘Woodside farm’, giving the impression it is ‘locally produced’ from a known farm, when it is anything but.” n


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