Any move to force food producers to provide information on the origin of ingredients in products will require the use of technology to help consumers use and benefit from this information, according to research.<\/p>\n
In a new paper Professor Iain Fraser<\/a>, from the University\u2019s School of Economics, examined the potential for mandatory country of origin labelling (COOL)<\/strong> information and how it could be best implemented<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Currently only a small number of products in the European Union legally require COOL information<\/strong>, such as for wine<\/strong>, eggs<\/strong>, beef and fruit and vegetables. For beef,<\/strong> this labelling must also differentiate between place of birth <\/strong>and where it is reared and slaughtered<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Many consumers say they like such information and prior research by Professor Fraser has found that UK shoppers are willing to pay more for meat with a UK COOL label<\/strong>, especially since the horse meat scandal of 2013<\/a>.<\/p>\n However, there is often confusion about what the information refers to \u2013 such as meat products that don\u2019t specify where the animal was raised as opposed to where it was slaughtered. Bacon, for example, can be cured in the UK<\/strong> but come from Danish pigs and be presented as from the UK, or vice versa and both would be legal<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The EU is in discussions to require COOL information as a mandatory requirement for almost all foodstuffs<\/strong>. This could have potentially huge ramifications<\/strong> for both producers and consumers, particularly in how best to present this information<\/strong> in a usable<\/strong>, trustworthy<\/strong> manner.<\/p>\n Professor Fraser notes that technologies such as blockchain<\/strong> and SmartLabels<\/strong> are among the ways in which consumers could receive information on packaging detailing the location from which an item has come<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The use of these technologies in this way already exists in a few examples, such as within Australia, or Switzerland, but have the potential to become more widespread if required<\/strong>, or consumers demand, more information on the origins of food products<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The paper adds that it may become the case that consumers can use a smartphone app to scan food in store, <\/strong>or set their preferences when shopping online<\/strong>, to seek out food with specific COOL data so that they can make the access to this data as useful as possible to their own needs<\/strong>.<\/p>\n The paper, entitled Wrapped in the Flag: Food Choice and Country of Origin Labelling<\/em><\/a>,<\/strong> has been published in EuroChoices<\/em>.<\/p>\n -ENDS-<\/p>\n