The products include Lancashire Hotpot and Shepherd’s Pie and while we understand that these are British recipes, it is not clear that these are made from New Zealand lamb. Further to this we feel the union flag with the words ‘produced in Britain’ that appears on the Lamb Rogan Josh has the potential to mislead consumers.
If the origin of the lamb is to remain from New Zealand any reference to British should be removed from these products. Following discussions with Aldi they will re-launch the range to make the distinction clearer. We will continue discussions with Aldi on their labelling and lamb sourcing policy.
Major retailers are signatories to the Voluntary Principles on Country of Origin Information, which states “Origin claims using UK flags, British imagery (such as icons or landmarks), or any suggestion of British or local origin through the product name or description (e.g. “British Classic”) is limited to products where the meat originates from the UK”.
An Aldi spokesperson said: “Our British Classic brand is used to indicate the origin of the recipe, but not necessarily the provenance of the ingredients.
“The ingredients are clearly labelled, however in line with other major supermarkets we are relaunching the range to make the distinction even clearer.
“All of our fresh core range lamb is sourced from British Red Tractor Assured Farms all year round.”
The NFU has also recently expressed concerns over Waitrose 'British' range made with New Zealand Lamb. Click here to find out more