A CALL for clearer product labelling to help consumers buy British products with confidence has been made by MPs.

Products such as cheese and butter can currently be labelled as UK produced, even if the raw milk used is from another EU country but processed in Britain.

In its report on farmgate prices, published on Wednesday, the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Efra) select committee called on Defra to strengthen its guidance.

It said the current system pushes down farmgate prices for UK farmers who have to compete with cheaper milk from abroad which can still be labelled as British.

The report said only half the butter and cheese eaten in the UK is made from British milk. It was "unacceptable" that consumers could not buy British and be confident they were supporting the country's farmers.

The guidance should also be be extended to more products such as yoghurt, ice-cream and ready meals.

Neil Parish, committee chairman, said Defra's current guidance allows companies to sell products such as cheese and butter as British when the raw product is sourced oversees.

He said: "As a result, consumers are given a false impression that they are supporting a home industry when in fact their money is not supporting UK farmers at all.

"Defra must strengthen its guidelines around country of origin labelling and continue to press for EU support in establishing clearer and better labelling requirements."

The report also said that while supermarkets could choose to sell milk cheaply as a loss leader, farmers must not be the victims by receiving unsustainable low prices.

The report also called for long term contracts to give certainty to producers, farmers to form producer organisations to give themselves more power in the market place, and farmers seizing opportunities for UK and global growth.

The MPs also said there was an urgent need to extend the Groceries Code Adjudicator's remit to include both direct and indirect suppliers to major UK retailers, to give greater protection to the supply chain.

A spokesman for Defra said: "The industry-owned voluntary principles on country of origin labelling mean consumers can have great confidence in where their cheese and butter comes from with the vast majority of products labelling the origin of their milk.

"We are also continuing to push for mandatory labelling for dairy products with the European Commission so consumers can be even clearer when they are buying products made from British milk."