Quality Meat Scotland (QMS) yesterday announced that it is closing the loophole that allowed beef from cattle that had not lived all their lives in Scotland, but had merely lived there for 90 days prior to slaughter, to be sold as Scotch.
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QMS, the industry-funded body charged with developing quality assurance standards and promoting Scottish red meat, recently launched a £1m (US$1.4m) advertising campaign for Scotch Beef. Last week the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) ruled that the campaign would have to be overhauled as it could mislead consumers, who would assume all Scotch beef came from cattle that had never left Scotland.
QMS decided to close the loophole and ruled that only meat from animals born, reared and processed in Scotland may be branded ‘Scotch beef’.
It is not clear yet when the new rule will come into force. Donald Biggar, vice-chairman of the QMS, said the data available on the number of cattle currently moving from England and Wales into Scotland for finishing was insufficient. However, since all cattle are now obliged to have a passport that traces their movements, the Scottish Executive, QMS and the British Cattle Movement Service are working together to arrive at an exact figure.
Estimates put the number of animals currently moving into Scotland for finishing at around 14,000 of an estimated slaughtering total of 405,00.
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