New research has found that two thirds of shoppers would trust retailers more if they displayed the British Lion mark on pre-packed food containing eggs.
With very little information required on pack, 84% of consumers expect British-made food to be made with British ingredients, while 50% of shoppers do not trust the ingredients in popular supermarket foods such as quiches, sandwiches and scotch eggs, if there is no country of origin for major ingredients such as egg communicated on the packaging.
The research comes at a time when the volume of imported eggs is growing, despite significant increases in the size of the UK flock. And, with more than 70% of shoppers agreeing that if produce can be sourced in the UK, then it should not be imported from other countries, seven out of ten consumers do not feel retailers are doing enough to support British farmers.
86% of shoppers expect eggs to be British when purchasing or eating them, and 69% of shoppers feel it is misleading to not highlight the origin of major ingredients such as egg in foods where it is a major ingredient, such as egg sandwiches, salad or quiche.
With regular food safety issues associated with egg ingredients produced in Europe, 86% of shoppers trust British Lion egg producers to protect them against the food safety risk represented by imported eggs. A quarter of consumers said eating products containing imported eggs made them feel less safe.
British Egg Industry Council chairman, Mark Williams, said: “Consumers put their trust in supermarkets to ensure that the food they sell is produced to the highest food safety standards and that they are being transparent when it comes to the origin of the ingredients. However, a significant number of imported eggs continue to be used in pre-prepared foods, such as quiche or egg sandwiches, that don’t meet the same food safety standards as British Lion eggs.
“While it’s great that many products already contain British Lion egg ingredients, shoppers may be unaware as there is little to no information on pack. This lack of information means retailers are missing out on the opportunity to reassure shoppers and build trust among them. We strongly urge retailers to help consumers to make informed purchasing decisions and start displaying the British Lion Mark on all pre-packed foods where Lion eggs are used.”
