Supported by other MEPs on the European Parliament Committee on Environment and Food Safety, Glenis Willmott has objected to a decision made by the UK and other EU governments on how to label the origin of meat.

Ms Willmott, who has long campaigned on the issue of food labelling, said: “We want mandatory labelling of the place of birth, rearing and slaughter for all meat, just as we already do for beef. This allows consumers to see how far the animal has travelled, and whether it has been in countries with good animal welfare standards, if that is their concern.

“Consumers want clear information about their food. Research shows that consumers overwhelmingly want to know the origin of their food, particularly meat.

“Consumers also expect that if the label says an animal is reared in a country, that means it will have spent the majority of its life there. Labelling meat as ‘reared’ in a country after just four months for pigs and one month for chickens is just not acceptable.

“Recent food scandals, including the discovery of horsemeat in burgers and lasagna, show that stricter rules for traceability and consumer information are both needed and wanted by citizens.”