Defra inquiry into egg 'fraud'.THE Government is investigating alleged mislabelling of eggs, it was announced yesterday. Some non-free range eggs may have been marked as free range in an illegal practice, said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is the United Kingdom government department responsible for environmental protection, food production and standards, agriculture, fisheries and rural communities in England. (Defra). The industry and retailers are being asked to check immediately that this is no longer taking place and that all produce on shop shelves is accurately labelled. The investigation relates to some 1% of the 3bn free range eggs produced each year in the UK - around 30m eggs, a spokesman said. Free range eggs account for around a third of UK production. Formal investigations are continuing and may lead to prosecutions, the spokesman said. The investigation is targeted on the collection and supply of eggs, not the original production, he added. The spokesman also drew attention to an operation by West Mercia Mercia (mûr`shə), one of the kingdoms of Anglo-Saxon England, consisting generally of the region of the Midlands. It was settled by Angles c.500, probably first along the Trent valley. Police and Defra last month in which three people were arrested in Broms-grove, Worcestershire Worcestershire, county, 674 sq mi (1,746 sq km), W central England. Worcester is the county administrative center. Worcestershire is largely hilly country. The Malvern, Cotswold, Clent, and Lickey hills, partially or entirely within the county, are the most important , in connection with alleged breaches of egg marketing rules. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion