Trading standards officers have warned that foreign meat is being sold in the UK as prime local produce.
Steak from Africa, Australia and South Africa is being relabelled as quality local meat and sold for as much as £20 in some butchers, according to reports in The Times.
In one case, a butcher in Northumberland was fined £1,800 and ordered to pay £1,200 in costs after trading standards officers found beef from Namibia on the premises, despite the butcher advertising that all of its meat was "bought from local Tynedale farms".
“There is a great push for local food and, from a customer’s point of view, while they may not notice much difference in the beef they see and taste, they have made a conscious choice to buy local because they wish to support local farmers,” Jim Rutter, chief trading standards officer in Northumberland told the paper.
Steak from Africa, Australia and South Africa is being relabelled as quality local meat and sold for as much as £20 in some butchers, according to reports in The Times.
In one case, a butcher in Northumberland was fined £1,800 and ordered to pay £1,200 in costs after trading standards officers found beef from Namibia on the premises, despite the butcher advertising that all of its meat was "bought from local Tynedale farms".
“There is a great push for local food and, from a customer’s point of view, while they may not notice much difference in the beef they see and taste, they have made a conscious choice to buy local because they wish to support local farmers,” Jim Rutter, chief trading standards officer in Northumberland told the paper.
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