I went to Sainsbury's today after decideing not to shop at Tesco anymore.

I went to the poultry section and although they have more free range and Organic chicken than in my local Tesco's, there cheaper birds had very little info on the labels.

The chickens for about £4 had  the lower leg on the bird still,and although it was a little marked, looked very simalar to the free range bird which was twice the price for the same weight. But there was no info on the label other than weight/price it didn't say if it was a british farmed bird, if it was intensively farmed or barn raised.

There cheap birds £3 had thelower leg removed but again had the same type of labeling as the £4 bird, this bird i would say was intensively farmed due to the lower leg being removed.

I don't know what i was expecting but, i felt dissapionted that Sainsbury's had not had these birds labelled better.

 I also noticed that the Pork was badly labelled, and had to study the label before i found the country of origin. I decided not to buy it..

whwen are the Goverment going to make the labelling of food and it origin clearer.

I can't see the piont in changing supermarkets unless one of them takes the lead and starts to label ther products properly.

Hi
After watching Hugh's programme on chicken's at Tesco's - I have decided I just don't want to buy any chickens or fresh/frozen meat from a company that is so price competitive that it doesn't care about welfare issues.
 I had considered looking at Sainsbury's at their freedom food range (which is about the lowest welfare level I would want to buy at) but now having read your news - looks like I will have to look elsewhere.
Luckily for me there is a local farmer's market once a month so I will probably shop there - pay more and buy less - but have a clear conscience.

LizB 



      I think i will be doing the same, but i must say they did have a lot of free range birds on the shelf that were very well labelled ,so there was no confusion about any of there free range or organic or even organic free range. It was just there lower price chickens that caused me concern. ( not that i would buy the none free range) In fact i would have to say that Tesco label there chicken better (that really causes me concern).



this really is an issue that the goverment needs to deal with, surely we have a right to know where our food comes from and how it is raised.



I have friends at work that openly boast about buying 2 for a fiver, and that is in the end there choice.

All iwant is to be able to make the same choice as them based on clear labelling.



Pork that has a union flag on it, doesn't mean it was raised and sluaghtered in britian it just means that some part of the process was performed in britian. so sliced ham in any supermarket which has a union flag on it may just have been sliced in the uk. how miss leading is that..



right i shall try to climb off the soap box now and go and have a nice beef dinner produced in sussex by me.



Al

Hi
Really interesting comment about union flag label for pork. Thanks.
One of my main concerns about labelling is that even though Tesco says it adheres too the 5 basic rights as laid out in farm assurance schemes - I am not always sure that these rights are adhered to on the farms- as demonstrated in Hugh's Tv Documentary about chickens and by others. So when supermarkets state produced to our basic/high/etc standards - I really wonder how high these standards are!
 Probably - would have to shop at local suppliers/farms and ask them if I want to be sure!!

LizB

anyone commented on sainsburys no longer selling caged eggs, also a wider range of freedom foods available on all meats it seems they make a big deal when battery hens eggs are sold mission accomplished look for some other  bug bear no mention supermarkets are trying.

go to a farm shop if you can afford it but not all their products are raised there.

supermarkets only respond to demand, runner beans in february? well they're selling better than purple sprouting.

Supermarkets are certainly Trying,

Somerfields Free Range Eggs@£2.99 a doz,total rubbish,whites all watery,yolks very pale,these eggs were not layed by a free range hen,but of course the big shed did have a small pop hole

Free range eggs from a farm shop would have been cheaper than these,and the real Mc coy

I wonder WHO ,demands these poor quality eggs at dear prices?

Jim crow

The 'Westcountry' brand at Sainsbury's always used to be reared and killed in the Westcountry.  It was produced by Lloyd Maunder at Willand, and is good quality free range choock.

I understand that Morrisons only sell british meat.  Can anyone confirm that?

I wonder how They define "British"

The majority of their fresh meat appears to be British. Obviously they sell Dutch and Danish bacon in the pre-packed section, although all the bacon on the butchery counter is British. They also sell frozen New Zealand lamb.
As supermarkets go, Morrisons seem to be one of the better ones for british stuff, they also have a 'my farm' section in the fruit and veg department which sells local produce and a chiller cabinet of locally produced pies, bacon and ham etc.

We used to like the Westcountry chicken wings, before Sainsbury's stopped selling them. Scarborough is a bad place to shop for its size, Pickering and Helmsley are much better for good quality food. We always buy the organic chicken, and would never consider something which had the hocks cut off - that means only one thing in my opinion.

Protectionism is aginst the policy (& logic) of free trade - & rightly so. Encouraging people to study the labels to see whether stuff was BRITISH or not -would constitute a form of protectionism >

Last year I went to a friends egg laying unit under the Woodlands brand for Deans. It was shocking to see what "Woodlands Constitute" 2 saplings! the birds were terrible half feathered, thousands crammed in the shed that stank to high heaven. The birds hardly went outside as there was no food given nor did they travel further than a couple of meters from the shed. I'd be surprised if those eggs had any taste.

Even reading the label doesnt tell you what it really means, may be British but still not acceptable standard to me.

Morrisons make great play on the fact that their beef, chicken and pork is all British. In my local Morrisons this is all well and good, but it's nearly all bog-standard, basic Red Tractor logo, which is *basic*. I have not yet been able to get higher welfare beef & pork from Morrisons. And the choice of higher welfare chicken is this: dismal.

T*s*o... I refuse to shop there whenever possible.

Sainsbury:- Much greater choice of higher welfare meat all across the range. I can buy higher welfare pork there as well as 'Freedom Food', 'free-range' and organic chicken. Eggs - no eggs from caged hens. BUT you still have to look out for the 'hidden' eggs where eggs are an ingredient in a product, as with those, unless it says free-range - it'll be eggs from battery hens.

Farmers' markets. Hmmm... great variation IME. I never assume that just because something is sold at a farmers' market that it's high welfare produce for sale. Nor is it any guarantee of it being locally produced. Too many times I've seen items priced at huge mark-up and I'm far, far from certain that the quality on offer is reflected in that price. I'm all for producers getting a fair price, but some of the stuff I see at farmers' markets I get the feeling that they are taking us for a ride just as much as the supermarkets are.

Has anyone tried writing to the manager of their local supermarket asking that they sell more free range / organic produce? If store managers realise that their customers want free range / organic products they will respond. Eventually. If they do start selling what you ask for, you should go and buy it. This will help to support the manager's business decision.

Sainsburys have recently introduced "Pole and Line" caught Tuna under their own label, in response to learning about how destructive industrial net fishing is. My point being that supermarkets do adapt their product ranges for the better. Just keep the pressure on them by telling them what you want and through what you buy.
.

Oh yes. The manager of my local Morrisons is excellent at having trained his staff to reply "No demand for it. We'd never sell it." And judging from the letters from HQ, that unhelpful attitude comes from up-high.