021211 Shoppers Stuffed By Misleading Food LabelsDecember 11, 2002London - Consumers are being misled by poor food labelling as some products' names have almost nothing in common with the actual ingredients, watchdogs say. A survey by the Consumers' Association "Health Which?" magazine found that Paxo's Sausagemeat and Thyme stuffing had no sausagemeat in it at all, while Whole Earth Organic Mountain Cranberry Drink contained just 0.42 percent cranberry juice. "People are shocked to discover some products don't have the contents you'd expect from the product name," said magazine editor Kaye McIntosh. Health Which? asked 90 Britons to examine five products to see what they thought of the labelling. The Paxo stuffing was seen as one of the most misleading as two-thirds of respondents expected sausagemeat to be the main ingredient. In fact the only meat it contained was a minimum eight percent mechanically separated turkey. Del Monte Peruvian Star Fruit Juice Blend only had two percent star fruit, but the testers said they were pleasantly surprised to discover that Bernard Matthews Turkey and Pork Original Sausages contained as much as 20 percent pork and 38 percent turkey. Health Which? said the food and drinks industry should label their products honestly and called for a change in the law to require full ingredients to be listed on all pre-packed food and drink.
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