Complaint to the Competition & Markets Authority and Trading Standards Vs Supermarkets (Aldi, ASDA, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco & Waitrose) for deceptive marketing of ‘Responsibly Farmed’ & ‘Responsibly Sourced’ Scottish Salmon (19 November 2021)
Hard Evidence Submitted with CMA & Trading Standards Complaint (19 November 2021)
The offending Scottish salmon products - marketed and advertised as "responsibly farmed" and "responsibly sourced" - can be found via:
Mowi's "Responsibly Farmed" Scottish Salmon sold by Tesco & Sainsbury's - download high res image online here
Sainsbury's "Responsibly Sourced" and "Responsibly Farmed" Scottish salmon - download high res image online here
Tesco's "Responsibly Sourced" and "Responsibly Farmed" Scottish salmon - download high res image online here
Aldi's "Responsibly Sourced" Scottish salmon - download high res image online here
ASDA's "Responsibly Farmed" Scottish salmon - download high res image online here
Lidl's "Responsibly Sourced" Scottish salmon - download high res image online here
M&S's "Responsibly Sourced" Scottish salmon - download high image online here
Morrisons's "Responsibly Farmed" Scottish salmon - download high res image online here
Waitrose's "Responsibly Sourced" Scottish salmon - download high res image online here
The Scottish salmon products detailed above were bought in supermarkets on the Wirral (except Waitrose in Chester) in October and November 2021 and in Glasgow in November 2021. The product lines are believed to be standard in-store merchandise which can be found in other branches of Aldi, ASDA, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose. They are certainly not viewed as special to supermarkets on the Wirral or in Glasgow.
Our complaint to the ASA (in conjunction with Animal Concern) - which also includes hard evidence - is online via:
Complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority Vs ‘Responsibly Farmed’ Mowi Scottish salmon as advertised by Tesco & Sainsbury’s (19 November 2021)
In conclusion, we urge the CMA and Trading Standards – in collaboration with the ASA – to take enforcement action against Aldi, ASDA, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose.
I have copied Wirral, Cheshire and Glasgow Trading Standards into this complaint.
Please provide a receipt for this complaint.
If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me.
Thanks,
Don Staniford
Director, Scottish Salmon Watch
From: General Enquiries <general.enquiries@cma.gov.uk>
Date: Fri, Nov 19, 2021 at 10:03 PM
Subject: Automatic reply: Complaint Vs Supermarkets (Aldi, ASDA, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco & Waitrose) for deceptive marketing of ‘Responsibly Farmed’ & ‘Responsibly Sourced’ Scottish Salmon
To: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Thank you for contacting the CMA.
We will review your email and reply within 10 working days aiming to respond sooner where possible.
We handle all correspondence in line with General Data Protection Regulations and in confidence.
You can find out more about how we manage this by reviewing our Personal Information Charter.
You may be interested in how we handle information and complaints about businesses and business practices.
In the meantime:
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General Enquiries
Competition and Markets Authority
From: Celia Howarth <celiah@asa.org.uk>
Date: Mon, Nov 22, 2021 at 8:58 AM
Subject: RE: [External] Complaint Vs "Responsibly Farmed" Mowi Scottish salmon sold by Tesco & Sainsbury's
To: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>, David Barber <davidb@asa.org.uk>
Dear Mr Staniford
Thank you for your emails. I have forwarded both your emails to our Operations Team and asked them to raise a new complaint for you (I note you may have already passed a complaint through our system, so I will ensure they don’t duplicate this).
Your complaint will then be allocated to a Complaints Executive for their consideration.
Yours sincerely
Celia
Celia Howarth
Senior Complaints Executive
Direct Line: 020 7492 2119
Advertising Standards Authority
Castle House, 37-45 Paul Street
London EC2A 4LS
Telephone 020 7492 2222
www.asa.org.uk
Legal, honest, decent and truthful
From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Date: Mon, Nov 22, 2021 at 9:43 AM
Subject: Re: [External] Complaint Vs "Responsibly Farmed" Mowi Scottish salmon sold by Tesco & Sainsbury's
To: Celia Howarth <celiah@asa.org.uk>
Cc: David Barber <davidb@asa.org.uk>
Celia/David,
Thanks - on Saturday (20 November) I visited the Tesco store in Bidston on the Wirral and saw a display claiming that "All our fish is responsibly sourced".
There was MSC certified wild caught cod or haddock and MSC certified kippers I think but most of the fish in the display were farmed salmon from Norway (with no welfare accreditation mark or ASC-certification):
How can Tesco justify this advertising display? Please consider this an additional complaint.
I can provide substantive evidence, if required, that farmed salmon in Norway (like Scotland) are subjected to welfare abuse, toxic chemicals (including the banned neonicotinoid Imidacloprid), torture via Thermolicers and Hydrolicers, mass mortalities, infectious diseases, escapes and there is benthic and environmental pollution associated with Norwegian salmon farming operations.
Tesco is misleading customers.
Thanks,
Don Staniford
Director, Scottish Salmon Watch
From: Celia Howarth <celiah@asa.org.uk>
Date: Mon, Nov 22, 2021 at 9:45 AM
Subject: RE: [External] Complaint Vs "Responsibly Farmed" Mowi Scottish salmon sold by Tesco & Sainsbury's
To: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Cc: David Barber <davidb@asa.org.uk>
Dear Mr Staniford
Thank you for this email, I have also forwarded this to the operations team who will add it to your case when allocated to an Executive.
Celia
Celia Howarth
Senior Complaints Executive
Direct Line: 020 7492 2119
Advertising Standards Authority
Castle House, 37-45 Paul Street
London EC2A 4LS
Telephone 020 7492 2222
www.asa.org.uk
Legal, honest, decent and truthful
From: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>;
Received: Thu Dec 09 2021 12:30:48 GMT+0000 (Greenwich Mean Time)
To: General Enquiries <general.enquiries@cma.gov.uk>; General Enquiries <general.enquiries@cma.gov.uk>;
Subject: Re: [Official] CMA213680 - Response from Competition and Markets Authority
A report published by Seafood Watch on Monday (6 December 2021) is worth reading and provides supportive evidence to our claim that Scottish salmon - in particular Mowi salmon - is irresponsibly not responsibly farmed:
Download MBA_SeafoodWatch_Atlantic Salmon_Scotland
The report on salmon farming in Scotland ranks three regions - Western Isles, Northwest and Southwest - as the worst in the world and rates Scotland as a whole as "red" (i.e. avoid):
The only region in Scotland which scores a "yellow" rating is Orkney where Mowi does not operate.
Site specific data for 2020 and 2021 is not yet available (a cyber-attack on SEPA last year impacted operations) but the UK Veterinary Antibiotic Resistance and Sales Surveillance Report published in November 2021 (p49-51) details increasing use of antibiotics on salmon farms during 2020. Download that report
online here
Please pass this information onto your investigations team.
Thanks,
Don
From: General Enquiries <general.enquiries@cma.gov.uk>
Date: Tue, Dec 14, 2021 at 9:35 AM
Subject: [Official] CMA213680-1 Response from Competition and Markets Authority
To: Don Staniford <salmonfarmingkills@gmail.com>
Classification: Official
Our ref: CMA213680-1
Thank you for your further email which I confirm has also been passed to our intelligence team for consideration.
Our intelligence team will look at the information you have given us. The CMA may also use its extensive information gathering powers if appropriate.
Unless we ask you to, there is no need to contact the CMA about your enquiry or send us any more information. We will be in touch with you should we need anything further from you.
For further help
We think The Food Standards Agency may be better placed to help.
Bethany Skyrme (she/her) | Business Support Assistant | Strategy, Communications and Advocacy | Competition and Markets Authority
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