beef in supermarkets

thriftlady_2

ckerrd wrote: »

Wrong I am afraid.

It means it is reared to NFU developed British Farm Standards, the food does not necessarily have to come from Britain (or even England - the two are not interchangeable)

http://www.ciwf.org.uk/littleredtractor/index.htm

Sheds some light on this

Thanks for this -I was also under the impression that the tractor symbol meant UK produced. I can't find where it says this on your link though Am I just being dim ?

Ebany

According to http://www.redtractor.org.uk/site/rt_page.php?page_id=6

'How do I know where Red Tractor food comes from?
The Union flag in the Red Tractor logo verifies that the food has been produced, processed and packed in the United Kingdom.'

Seems pretty clear cut to me. That other site just seems to be moaning about the fact they don't think the animal welfare standards required to get the mark are good enough - nothing to do with the actual quality or safety of the food, or its place of production.

ckerrd

Ebany wrote: »

According to http://www.redtractor.org.uk/site/rt_page.php?page_id=6

'How do I know where Red Tractor food comes from?
The Union flag in the Red Tractor logo verifies that the food has been produced, processed and packed in the United Kingdom.'

Seems pretty clear cut to me. That other site just seems to be moaning about the fact they don't think the animal welfare standards required to get the mark are good enough - nothing to do with the actual quality or safety of the food, or its place of production.

From the second link

The logo is also not a guarantee that the product is British. It can be used on produce which comes from other countries as long as the producers comply with the necessary standards.


EDIT - Having read further it seems that there is some confusion, well in my mind at least.
The red tractor with the Union Flag logo on it is indeed as Ebany says British produced etc, however it seems that there can be a red tractor without the Union Flag.

http://www.eatwell.gov.uk/foodlabels/labellingterms/redtractor/ further links on this site

Just goes to show how confusing all this food labelling can be.
Which is why I try and buy from a local butcher or market who can tell me the origin of the meat/poultry I purchase.

And to comment on P Penguin's observations - I see that Asda and, I think, Sainsburys do matured/well hung beef.
Interesting to see this dark meat sitting beside all the incredibly red beef that usually fills the shelves.
No idea how it sells or whether it is any good mind you. Just something I have noticed.

susank

Buying from a local butcher you can ask where the beast was reared and also slaughtered as it has traceability and IMO is best for meat source.

Debt_Free_Chick

susank wrote: »

Buying from a local butcher you can ask where the beast was reared and also slaughtered as it has traceability and IMO is best for meat source.

Mostly why I buy from the butcher - although, all meat is traceable, including that bought in the Supermarket. It's just that the Supermarket can't tell you anything about it, other than it came in on a refrigerated lorry on Tuesday :rotfl:

Debt_Free_Chick

I'm fairly sure that the "Country of origin" refers to the finished product. So British Bacon includes imported pork which has been cured in the UK :mad:

There's a British Farming campaign to change this (not sure who's leading it .... NFU???)

Whilst I'm happy that meat sold in the UK is generally "fit for human consumption", I'm not convinced that all imported meat has been raised to the same standards.

Whilst some people won't be convinced about this, our welfare standards are amongst the highest in the World. We learned some hard lessons following BSE

Debt_Free_Chick

kunekune wrote: »

Dare I say that beef from elsewhere may be safer? Should admit to being a kiwi when I say this.

Go on then ... I'll bite ..... Why?

Debt_Free_Chick

heather38 wrote: »

quite a lot of beef from south america is infected with foot and mouth, so i never eat beef from there.

Although, there are supposed to be controls to ensure food imported in to the UK is completely FMD-free. Whilst those controls have been in place since the 1970s, the 2001 FMD outbreak was probably caused by FMD in imported meat (from South Africa). :mad: Which is reason enough, for me, not to contemplate buying imported meat :rolleyes:

Surely, we don't need to import meat?

roger_c

I would ONLY eat British meat, we have the most stringent rules on meat production compared with other countries and Scotch Beef is world renowned for its quality.

There was such a palava about foot and mouth and vCJD, because there are checks in place in this country and it was brought to everyones attention, just as it should be. The British public have a right to know what's going on. I dare say, but do not quote me on this, that these diseases go unnoticed, untreated and unaccounted for in various other countries.