The European Commission has incensed the UK fresh produce industry with its attempt to restore consumer confidence.
An advert in a commuter newspaper heightened feeling around the EC’s “bungling” management of the E. coli outbreaks last month.
The one-off ad titled What’s on the menu this summer? Fruit, vegetables and more vegetables! ran in Metro newspapers on Tuesday.
“The commission is definitely off the menu as far as UK businesses are concerned, having damaged the fresh produce industry through unfounded and premature links between fresh produce and the recent E. coli outbreaks,” said Fresh Produce Consortium CEO Nigel Jenney. “This poorly planned one-off advertisement is another example of the commission’s ineptitude. It makes no reference to UK businesses and will do nothing to help them or restore consumers’ confidence in fresh produce.”
Despite the fact that the industry’s Eat In Colour website address featured at the bottom of the advertisement, FPC said it received no consultation or prior notification of the UK advert. It has written to both farm commissioner Dacian Ciolos and health and consumer commissioner John Dalli to complain.
It pointed out that UK businesses should be supported by removing fresh peas and beans from the EU ban on Egyptian imports, providing direct compensation to all UK businesses adversely affected, not just growers of a limited selection of products and by working closely with the trade to develop a much more targeted and effective campaign immediately.
On Tuesday Ciolos said the ad had been placed in at least one publication in each member state and is being followed up with a TV ad made by the commission which is being offered free to TV stations.
“A single advertisement run for one day in a commuter magazine is not going to have a significant impact on the UK population as a whole,” said Jenney.
