News

Celebrity chef Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall has announced the winner of his Chicken Out competition to design a new label for Tesco standard chicken.

The campaign followed Fearnley-Whittingstall's Chickens, Hugh and Tesco Too programme that aired in January and an online poll that found 75% believed Tesco had the most misleading chicken labels.

Winner Debbie Cripps of Moulton, Lincolnshire said she wanted the label to be "visually clear and state facts rather than using packaging to disguise welfare issues".

Fearnley-Whittingstall blasted supermarkets using packaging with "meaningless descriptions" and images that "imply chickens lived a healthy outdoor life".

"Clear and honest labelling will empower shoppers to make an informed choice," he said.

Fearnley-Whittingstall ran the campaign in conjunction with Compassion in World Farming.

In a statement to Packaging News, a Tesco spokesman defended its food labelling. "We undertake extensive research with our customers to ensure our labels are as clear and meaningful as possible so they can makes informed choices," he said.

* Clarissa Dickson Wright, one of the Two Fat Ladies, has joined the Conservatives' Honest Food campaign that calls for an end to misleading country of origin labelling for meat products.