Scotland’s hard working livestock farmers are sending out a clear message to consumers.

Standards on Scotland’s beef and sheep farms are amongst the highest in the world and they stand by everything that the Scotch label stands for.

NFU Scotland and its members are adamant that catastrophic failures within parts of the food chain around labelling, traceability and sourcing of meat will not derail the huge amount of time and effort that has gone into building Scotland’s reputation for quality red meat.

They believe consumers can justifiably keep faith with the integrity of Scottish produce and urge them to continue to support the Scotch label in the way that they always have.

NFU Scotland President Nigel Miller said:

“The ongoing scandal on horsemeat is becoming increasingly frustrating for Scottish farmers who believe their hard work and reputation for quality is being undermined by potential illegality in some supply chains, wildly inaccurate labelling of processed products and a developing mistrust within the food supply chain.  

“The Scotch label means the animal has been born, bred, reared, slaughtered and processed in Scotland with every step of the chain subject to assurance and audit.  Every pack of Scotch meat carries codings that can trace it back through the chain to the farms of origin.

“Farmers in Scotland and throughout the UK comply with robust identification and traceability measures, stringent farm assurance programmes and are subject to very high levels of inspection. All of these have over the years rightly contributed to high levels of consumer confidence in purchasing a Scottish or British produced product.

“That is being undermined, however, by illegal actions elsewhere within the chain.

“It is up to processors and retailers to defend their own traceability measures, but we welcome the FSA announcement of an increased DNA testing regime for processed products over the next week. It is our hope that those further up the chain can confirm an exemplar traceability system as our farmers can, and that we will continue to report a clean bill of health here in Scotland."  

Notes to Editors

• To be described as Scotch, cattle and sheep must have been born, reared and slaughtered in Scotland.
• Quality Meat Scotland launched a new Scotch Beef campaign this week. The campaign aims to reach around 5.3 million consumers in the target audience for the Scotch Beef brand, which is underpinned by strong traceability and quality assurance.   

Ends

Contact Bob Carruth on 0131 472 4006