Extending isotope testing will improve consumer trust in pork, Lizzie tells Farming Today

Rolling out isotope testing more widely will help improve consumer trust in the meat they buy, the NPA’s Lizzie Wilson has explained in a BBC interview.

Lizzie was interviewed for this morning’s Radio 4 Farming Today programme, which was covering an announcement by AHDB that isotope testing is to be extended to butcher shops. The tests indicate where an animal was raised, enabling checks to be made on country of origin claims.

You can listen to the interview here (from about 10 minutes, 40 seconds).

Lizzie explained how, after the tests were initially rolled out across the supermarket sector, the NPA has been pushing for an extension to butchers and farm shops to ensure labelling is honest and consumers are not being misled. The move will also help ensure that UK producers are receiving the premium they earn for the industry’s high standards of production.

She said it was ‘extremely important’ to ensure honest labelling at a time when shoppers have never cared more about their food.

“Shoppers have been scared in the past with regard to Horsegate and have been misled with various other issues. I think it is extremely important for the sustainability of the pig industry and food production in general that shoppers trust exactly what they being sold.”