Waitrose executive director, James Bailey, has hit back at government ministers for ditching plans to make animal welfare food labels a requirement.
He told The Telegraph that the move not to go ahead with a planned formal consultation was a “huge disappointment” and that Britain now faces a “race to the bottom” on standards.
By making animal welfare food labelling mandatory for UK and imported products, shoppers would be able to see how food is produced and if it meets their standards.
Bailey told the newspaper that “customers deserve to know where the meat on their dinner table comes from and how it lived.
“Focusing on price alone drags everyone into a race to the bottom; creating food systems that only cares about the lowest possible cost, regardless of the long term consequences for the planet.”
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He explained that suppliers will also be affected as “UK farms typically have higher welfare standards than some of their counterparts in Europe and beyond. Transparent and consistent labelling at all supermarkets would help protect UK farmers by stopping UK standards being undercut by lower welfare imports.
Currently, 95% of the UK’s chickens hold the Red Tractor quality mark which esnures high quality across every stage of the production process, from farm to pack.
However he added that “without the right protections, we could see battery farmed chickens from the Asia Pacific undercutting UK agriculture.”
This comes as the second time that a retail boss has hit back at the government this week, as M&S CEO, Stuart Machin, said plans to redevelop its flagship Marble Arch store are “in the deep freeze” as Michael Gove has rejected the scheme.
While the Communities Secretary blocked the proposals over concerns that public benefits would not outweigh the harm to nearby landmarks and conservation areas, Machin branded the decision as “utterly pathetic” and “laughable.”
