Calls for 'more honest' food labelling to benefit Scottish farmers

The paper sets out a series of recommendations to improve transparency across the food system and was timed to coincide with the Union’s 2026 AGM and Conference, taking place in Glasgow today and tomorrow. The publication comes just a day before Kirsty McNeill MP, UK Government Minister for Scotland, is due to address NFUS members at the event - offering the opportunity for the Union to highlight its proposals to her directly.

NFU Scotland President Andrew Connon said: “Consumers in Scotland care deeply about where their food comes from, but they’re being let down by vague and misleading labels. At the same time, world-class food produced by Scottish farmers and crofters is too often undermined or co-mingled with imports that don’t meet our standards.”

“This paper sets out a clear path forward. We’re asking government and relevant agencies to back honest labelling, support domestic production, and give the public the transparency they deserve.”

The NFUS paper, “Fair Labels, Fair Markets”, highlights that over 80 per cent of consumers say origin matters to them, yet fewer than half feel they can easily find that information when shopping.

The Union is calling on UK Government to act on eight key priorities:

* Label food clearly – wherever it’s sold. Don’t stop at supermarkets - apply origin labelling to out of home, and wholesale.

* Close the loopholes on processed meat. Processing shouldn’t erase origin – labels must still say where the meat comes from.

* Put origin on the front, not in the fine print. Stop burying country-of-origin in tiny print. Make it clear, visible and honest.

* End vague labels like “mixed origin” .They confuse customers and hide reality. People deserve to know what they’re buying.

* Protect flags and provenance. Don’t let imported products borrow Scottish branding or national flags unfairly.

* End the use of fake farms. Marketing should celebrate real farmers, not invent fictional ones.

* Introduce legal protection for meat products. Stop plant-based alternatives from using names or branding that imitate traditional meat and mislead consumers.

* Enforce tougher rules and report on them. Tougher, transparent enforcement is needed to restore trust and level the playing field.

NFUS CEO John Davidson, who led the development of the paper, said: “These aren’t abstract principles, they affect everyday decisions in shops, restaurants and supply chains. The current system is messy and inconsistent. We’re calling for a reset that protects integrity and builds trust.”

He added that the Union is keen to work with all levels of government and industry to deliver reforms that support national goals on food security, sustainability and local sourcing. “We’re not asking for more red tape, we’re asking for better rules, applied fairly and transparently. We hope the UK Government will take this opportunity to show leadership on an issue that unites producers and the public.”

NFU Scotland will continue to push for food labelling reform as part of its wider work on supply chain fairness, including promoting findings of its ongoing ShelfWatch campaign.