Stricter rules have been drawn up to prevent consumers being duped by labels that suggest meat and other food has been produced in Britain when it was imported from abroad.

For many shoppers, terms such as “Produce of . . .” “Origin”, “British”, “Scottish”, or “Welsh” implies that the place of processing and the origin of the ingredients are the same.

New guidance from the Food Standards Agency stipulates that food companies must not use the phrase “produced in the UK” if the main ingredient has been imported. The only exception is for products such as chocolate, where it is obvious that ingredients such as cocoa beans are not home-produced.

Lord Rooker, Food and Farming Minister, has called on supermarkets to be more open with consumers about the origin of food, especially meat and dairy products.

The main contention is the rule under Section 36 of the Trade Descriptions Act 1968, which states: “Goods are deemed to have been manufactured or produced in the country in which they last underwent a treatment or process resulting in a substantial change.” The watchdog has said that if meat is turned into pies or pork is cured to become bacon or ham, this process is a substantial change.

Meat can be decribed as Welsh, Scottish or British if the animals have been born, reared and slaughtered in the country. If meat is imported and then packed in the UK, the label must make state the name of the country where meat was produced and then list separately that the packing was in Britain.Supermarkets are also warned to take care than instore promotional material such as flags do not mislead.

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