• Sweden edition

Opposition calls for country of origin labels on meat

Published: 30 May 09 13:19 CET | Double click on a word to get a translation
Online: http://www.thelocal.se/19770/20090530/

Sweden's three ‘red-green’ opposition parties have called for all meat products sold in the EU to be labelled with their country of origin. The demand comes in the wake of widely publicised reports on the treatment of Danish pigs. However, agriculture minister Eskil Erlandsson (Centre Party) has rejected mandatory labelling on the grounds that it could be too expensive, according to Swedish Radio.

“We have found that a voluntary arrangement not only works but works better from a number of standpoints, including cost," he said.

Although all beef sold in the EU must carry country of origin labels, the requirement does not apply to pork.

Stuart Sheild (news@thelocal.se/08-6566518)

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18:41 May 30, 2009 by Jeffi
And just how do Dane hog producers treat their livestock?

Maybe... like they are going to be dinner on Sunday, as opposed to naming them, finding them a psychologist for their pen issues and then asking what day they would like to meet their maker on, that is... if Sunday Dinner doesn't mind?
18:44 May 30, 2009 by Vitas
Discrimination !!!
19:40 May 30, 2009 by eZee.se
I say send all pig meat produced by the Danes in sandwiches to the middle east countries as a sign of goodwill....

oops!
23:45 May 30, 2009 by Renfeh Hguh
What a good idea. It is disgusting the way the Danes boil the pigs alive....

Ooops, my mistake, it is the superior Swedes that do that..

http://www.thelocal.se/18258/20090317/

A great article lacking any information about the actual reasons the treehuggers want this. At least we have the useful link about how some Swedes like to treat their animal, with some sweet lov'n :)

A complete and utter waste of money and a typical time wasting exercise by the left parties to even bring up the topic.
19:39 May 31, 2009 by bocale1
Instead, R.H., I think it is a good and very reasonable proposal. As a consumer, I want to know where the meat I buy comes from. And it does not mean that Swedes treat their animals better than others but, living in Sweden, I have some chance to influence Swedish habits but none about others. And why this rule should be valid for beef and not for pork? I guess it is a consequence of the "mad cow" disease... so, should we wait for a pork pest before extending such basic requirement to it?
07:26 June 1, 2009 by Jeffi
Country of origin labels/stickers are quite a good idea for any product, frankly. We already have them for clothing, canned goods, produce etc. Denmark tags their meat as a product of Denmark. It is this other silly stuff that I think folk find objectionable. I am discovering that The Local either enjoys sensationalizing their articles of they have really bad English speakers to proof read their translated articles. I think this is where the issue arises here.
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