ASDA - cochineal products labeled veggie

gibby

asda are selling food labeled suitable for vegetarians but they include crushed beetles and their juice.

On calling them they told me they thought crushed beetles were suitable and they would not be changing their labeling or policy


Is this breaking an food labeling law???


G

juno

Asda also get gluten free and organic mixed up sometimes

soolin

juno wrote:

Asda also get gluten free and organic mixed up sometimes

Yes...and if you tell them they just go 'oh well'. I do wish supermarkets and suppliers would realise that gluten free food isn't just a fad, for some of us it is the difference between life and death.

Tesco recently recalled their gluten free meatballs as they contained wheatflour, yet the only notification was a small tatty sign behind the customer services desk at the local Tesco.

Don't even get me started on health food stores who mistake 'organic' with 'being suitable for coeliacs'. arghhhhhhh

Sorry....back to the original post. At th emoment food labelling is not subject to particularly stringent rules as I have found to my cost. All you can do is complain and if necessary take th ematter up with the vegetarian society who might be able to lay on more pressure.

Soo

zodiac

Crushed Beetles?!?!?!

Turning_into_scrooge

gibby wrote:

asda are selling food labeled suitable for vegetarians but they include crushed beetles and their juice.

On calling them they told me they thought crushed beetles were suitable and they would not be changing their labeling or policy


Is this breaking an food labeling law???


G

I'm actually quite shocked at ASDA doing that. Most people know that cochineal comes from beetles . I think that's really bad to label a product suitable for vegetarians which contains animal product in it Its not exactly milk is it? :cool:

£$&*"($£&(

I'd contact the Vegetarian Society. I'm not sure Asda would like bad publicity from such a reputable organisation.

Trollydolly_2

Cant trading standards do anything? Isnt it false advertising?

VickyA_2

I used to work for a supplier of fresh food to the major supermarkets. If the product is in the supermarket's own brand packaging then the supplier has no say over the declaration on the packaging as it gets passed through the supermarket's "legal" and "technical" departments.

I had a falling out with one of the packaging companies because they were refusing to take the "suitable for Vegetarians" symbol off a pack of Caesar salad, even though in the ingredients declaration the caesar dressing contained anchovies! The packaging company couldn't change the declaration as that's what the supermarket had "passed". Duh!

silvertoes

This is what I received in an email about Asda



ASDA SELLS CRUSHED BEETLES IN VEGGIE PRODUCTS!

Hi!

PLS do forward this email - there must be 1000's of veggies/vegans that are
eating cochineal products that ASDA are labelling as suitable for
vegetarians!!!

I have just spoken to ASDA again and they have confirmed that the cochineal
they use is the “juices and rind of beetles”

They say that this is acceptable for vegetarians!

The head office have said that they will not be changing the packaging
either!!

PLEASE BE VERY CAREFUL WHEN BUYING FOOD FROM ASDA!!!

Click here or copy and paste to send a polite email letting ASDA know that
even non veggies wouldnt want to eat beetles let alone veggies!

Or call: 0500 100055

https://www.asda.co.uk/asda_corp/scripts/homePage.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@00204677

slinks

Sorry if it's not quite on topic but I thought it worth a mention. I used to eat Asda's own brand 8p yogurts as they were labelled veggie. One day as I was eating one I noticed there wasn't a V symbol anymore but the ingredients didn't look different. I contacted Asda and was told by them that they had changed the ingredients to include gelatine but weren't obliged to mention it on the ingredients!!! I was then cheekily told that it was up to me as a vegetarian to check there is a V symbol EVERY SINGLE TIME I ever eat anything ever again, just in case they change it. Surely they should advertise or annouce that something has changed??

MrsMondragon

I called Asda several months ago with the same query telling them
cochineal wasnt vegetarian. The man in Customer Services told me if it said it was vegetarian then I shouldnt worry. They took my telephone number and promised that they would call me back the same day.....and several months later im still waiting.
If it says vegetarian on the pack, I expect it to be vegetarian in the pack. I personally dont consider cochineal to be vegetarian and im sure others will agree. Shame on you Asda for misleading your customers. :mad: