Читать книгу The Savvy Shopper - Rose Prince - Страница 38

The Co-op sources its beef from the UK and Ireland and 95 per cent of the animals are reared outdoors, feeding on natural pasture, silage and some concentrates, as required. Although the Co-op operates a strictly non-GM policy, it states that these concentrates may contain soya that is not specified as non-GM. Journey time to the abattoir is approximately six hours.

Sainsbury sells a range of organic beef and well-hung conventional beef. It cannot guarantee the latter is not given GM feed.

Marks & Spencer sources its beef from England, Northern Ireland and Scotland. Animals are fed a forage-based diet with at least one season grazing at grass and no GM feed. The journey to the abattoir takes no longer than four hours.

Budgens’ beef is reared in England. The cattle are fed on grass, silage and meal, which, although free from fishmeal and growth promoters, may contain some GM substances. The abattoir is less than 100 miles away.

Waitrose sources all its beef in the UK. The mixed breed animals are reared 95 per cent of the time outdoors on a GM-free diet that is 75 per cent forage based (grass, silage), the rest wheat, barley and soya. Journey times to slaughterhouse average nearly four hours.

Tesco beef is sourced from the UK, Ireland, Argentina and Brazil (country of origin is always labelled, so look for the small print; even if the label says Aberdeen Angus, the country of origin could be food-mile-heavy South America). The cattle are fed a forage-based diet with other cereals (‘not generally soya bean’). Tesco did not state whether the feed was GM free.