The F words cause mayhem for industry

With flooding and foot and mouth disease both affecting many individuals and impacting the food industry adversely, this has not been a happy summer.

I hesitate to conclude that the outbreak appears under control, but hope this is the case, remembering the impact on the farming community first time round as a trading standards officer in Oxfordshire.

The outbreak will inevitably fuel the debate about origin labelling, which is one of many issues under debate as part of the proposed Regulation on Food Information.

In the past, labelling of meat as being UK-sourced has been used as a successful marketing tool, both for home and export markets. Earlier this year, Conservative Party leader David Cameron claimed that "food patriotism" was on the rise and said it was vital that British food was clearly labelled. "We need to have proper rules and British produce has to be labelled 'made in Britain'," he said. "We need to find a way to make this happen under EU rules."

However, the tables may well have turned. The latest foot and mouth disease outbreak could well have a negative impact on the popularity of UK-sourced meat - both at home and abroad.

I fear that with more widespread labelling, consumers might start looking at buying meat which comes from outside of the UK. This would have a devastating effect on domestic meat producers. After all, the industry is only just recovering its export markets, following the lifting of restrictions associated with the earlier BSE crisis.

While member states are keen to tighten controls regarding origin labelling, there are concerns about how any changes may be viewed by the World Trade Organisation.

We will have to see how this plays out with the EU regulations.

Kath Veal is business manager, Regulatory and Technical Consultancy Services at Leatherhead Food International​