By Louise Lucas
Britain has fended off calls from Europe over food labelling, retaining the right to sell eggs by the dozen and pull pints of beer.
The European Union had been calling for harmonised metric weights for all products as part of efforts to simplify food labelling across the Continent. But the UK has lobbied to ringfence traditional measures from the new rules.
Caroline Spelman, environment secretary, said the government had fought ?long and hard? on food labelling issues such as country of origin and nutritional information. ?We?ve also protected what we already hold dear,? she said. ?Selling eggs or bread rolls by the dozen, and using imperial measures like pints, are great British traditions that we all know and love, and there was no way I was going to let them be put at risk.?
However, others warned that plenty of work remained to be done in what FoodDrinkEurope, a trade body, said had been a ?long and often arduous process? spanning four years and called on the European Commission to consult with all stakeholders. The new rules will come into effect around the new year, after which manufacturers and retailers will have between three and five years, depending on the type of labelling, in which to implement them.
The regulations pave the way for further detailed labelling, for example of compulsory country of origin for meat products such as sausages and pies, and for cheese. These will be considered within three years.
Following yesterday?s vote, manufacturers and retailers will now be obliged to give a broader range of information on the produce they sell, including labelling meat cuts in which the water content exceeds 5 per cent and additional labelling for high caffeine drinks.
? The Financial Times Limited 2011