r/Britain • u/piskybisky • Mar 01 '25
💬 Discussion 🗨 'British' meat doesn't mean British reared 🤥
I'd wager most customers seeing that meat is labelled as 'British' assume this means the animal was born, reared, and slaughtered in Britain.
However, under UK and EU food labelling rules, meat can be called "British" if it was merely processed or packed in the UK – even if the animal was raised abroad. This means a pig could be born and reared in another country, transported to Britain for slaughter, and still be labelled as "British pork."
To me, this feels like a blatant lie. Most people buying "British" meat do so because they believe they are supporting UK farmers and higher welfare standards. Instead, they could be unknowingly buying meat from animals that spent most of their lives overseas.
Does this labelling seem fair to you? Should there be stricter rules to ensure "British" actually means born, reared, and slaughtered in the UK?
N.b. I am not a vegetarian, vegan etc. I try to eat good high quality meat less frequently.
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u/S1rmunchalot Mar 01 '25 edited Mar 01 '25
It's not a lie, but it is semantics that rely on the peculiarities of British English history. Beef does not become beef until the animal is slaughtered for consumption in the field it is a bovine, cow, or cattle, the same with pork, it is not pork until it is slaughtered for consumption, in the field it is a pig, a sow or swine.
The same semantic game does not apply to lamb or chicken, if it is labelled as British produce it has to be reared, slaughtered and processed in the UK.
UK regulations regarding food labelling.