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The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what further measures are planned for the labelling of meat and dairy products to recognise the high standards of welfare in British products.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Consumers buying meat and dairy products produced in the UK can be reassured that we have some of the highest animal welfare standards in the European Union.

We pressed for new EU legislation extending country of origin rules from beef to fresh and frozen sheep, goat, pig and poultry meat to help consumers identify food produced in the UK. These came into force in April 2015. We are also pressing for this rule to be extended to dairy products.

To support consumers further in making an informed choice, Defra is pressing the EU to implement rules to require that where food products indicate that they are produced in a specific country they must also state if the main ingredients are from a different country.

2016 is the Year of Great British Food. Through the Great British Food campaign Defra is working in partnership with industry to champion the outstanding quality of UK produce to help fuel demand for Great British Food.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether they intend to take further steps to raise public awareness of the incidence of campylobacter in chickens.

Lord Prior of Brampton

The Food Standards Agency will continue to use social and news media opportunities to raise awareness of campylobacter and let people know how they can reduce the risk from campylobacter in their home. The Agency leads the Acting on Campylobacter Together campaign under which the poultry industry seeks to reduce the levels of the bacteria on the chickens they sell.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government whether the Food Standards Agency achieved its target of halving the incidence of campylobacter food poisoning in 2015.

Lord Prior of Brampton

Although progress continues to be made, the Food Standards Agency’s (FSA) agreed target with industry to reduce the numbers of the most contaminated birds at the end of slaughter to less than 10% by 2015 was not met. However, given the interventions expected to come on stream within industry, the FSA Board agreed to roll the target to 2016, when it is expected that the target will be met. If the target is met, then a decrease of around 50% in the number of human cases of campylobacteriosis would be expected.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage coffee chains to recycle paper coffee cups.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Paper coffee cups are captured under the Packaging Waste Regulations. The UK meets its packaging waste recovery and recycling targets through a market-based approach. Packaging producers who put more than 50 tonnes a year of packaging materials on the market, and have an annual turnover of more than £2 million, are required to recover and recycle a proportion of their packaging waste. As a result most major coffee chains pick up a financial obligation to recycle their packaging waste, including paper coffee cups, through this mechanism.

Defra is also working with campaigners and industry to develop a National Litter Strategy for England.

In addition, we are aware of many major chains who are taking their own action to incentivise environmentally friendly behaviour, for example by offering a discount on drinks if customers bring their own reusable cups.

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Jones of Whitchurch on 2016-03-21.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to encourage supermarkets to redistribute surplus food to charities rather than disposing of surplus via anaerobic digestion or landfill.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

If surplus food cannot be prevented, the next best option is to ensure that it is redistributed for human consumption. Working through the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) and our voluntary agreements with the grocery sector, we have taken action to ensure that more surplus food is redistributed to people before being put to any other use. All major retailers now have arrangements in place to redistribute surplus food. Signatories to phase 3 of the Courtauld Commitment have reported a 74% increase in food redistribution between 2012 and the end of 2014, and we expect this to increase further.

Last year, the Secretary of State held a meeting with industry and redistribution organisations to take stock of progress on food redistribution. Outcomes from this include the recent publication of a Redistribution Framework to help facilitate closer working between potential donors and recipients of food surpluses. WRAP has commissioned research to identify where and why waste and surpluses occur in the supply chain to inform further action to increase waste prevention and redistribution.

Following the success of earlier agreements, WRAP launched the Courtauld Commitment 2025 in March this year. This is an ambitious new agreement that takes a whole food supply chain approach, and will build on the progress we have already made to prevent waste, including through the redistribution of surplus food.

There will always be some unavoidable food waste. The Government’s Anaerobic Digestion Strategy is in place to reduce the amount of organic material going to landfill and drive the waste that is produced into energy recovery or recycling.