Irresponsibly Farmed Scottish Salmon - Complaints Filed Vs Supermarkets with Advertising & Trading Standards!

 

Irresponsibly Farmed Scottish Salmon - Complaints Filed Vs Supermarkets with Advertising & Trading Standards! @ASA_UK @CMAgovUK @TSScot @NTSscamsteam @wirraltsd @CEC_TS @GlasgowCC @SalmonScotland @ScotlandSalmon @Ecohustler @animal_concern @ClientEarth https://t.co/XjkuDA7WsB pic.twitter.com/d4dp6VURvU

— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) November 22, 2021

 

 

 

Download press release in full online here

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Key documents:

Trading Standards & CMA Letter of Complaint Vs Supermarkets (19 November 2021)

Hard Evidence Vs 'Responsibly Farmed' & 'Responsibly Sourced' Scottish Salmon (submitted to Trading Standards & the CMA on 19 November 2021)

Advertising Standards Authority Complaint & Hard Evidence Vs 'Responsibly Farmed' Mowi salmon sold by Tesco & Sainsbury's (19 November 2021)

 

 

Photos:

 

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

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Nov 19, 2021 at 7:31 PM
Subject: Complaint Vs "Responsibly Farmed" Mowi Scottish salmon sold by Tesco & Sainsbury's
To: <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>

 

Celia/David,

 

Since you've dealt previously with complaints relating to Scottish salmon (cited in the attached complaint) I am writing to you personally but a complaint will also be filed online via the ASA website later this evening.

 

Here's a complaint filed by Scottish Salmon Watch and Animal Concern which includes 'hard evidence' against Mowi's "responsibly farmed" Scottish salmon:

 

Complaint to the Advertising Standards Authority Vs ‘Responsibly Farmed’ Mowi Scottish salmon as advertised by Tesco & Sainsbury’s (19 November 2021)

 

 

Hopefully you can take enforcement action against Tesco and Sainsbury's and work with CMA and Trading Standards to address the issue of deceptive marketing and misleading advertising of "responsibly farmed" and "responsibly sourced" Scottish salmon. 

 

The Competition and Markets Authority report ‘Green Claims Code’ (20 September 2021) gives scope for coordinated action to address false environmental claims in relation to Scottish salmon.  

 

There is certainly overlap in our complaints and the ASA is copied into:

 

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)

 

 

 

If you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact me. 

 

Please provide a receipt for this complaint. 

 

Thanks,

 

 

Don Staniford

 

Director, Scottish Salmon Watch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: [email protected] <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Nov 19, 2021 at 7:56 PM
Subject: Thank you for your enquiry - reference no. A21-1135025
To: Staniford, Don <[email protected]>

Thank you for contacting the ASA.  Your unique case reference number is …

 

We value all of the complaints we receive, because they help us to understand the issues that matter and assist us in identifying the areas that we should direct our resources towards. With your help, we prevent people from being disadvantaged by, or exposed to, misleading or irresponsible advertising.

 

What happens now?

 

Our Complaints Team will analyse your enquiry. Firstly, we will establish whether the issue you have raised falls under our terms of reference. You can read about the areas that we cover here.

 

We will then assess your views against the advertising rules using our prioritisation principles as a guide. This will determine what action we take.

 

If our decision is to investigate your complaint further, we will let you know within 15 days of this email. Otherwise, the information you gave us will be kept on file for use in our formal intelligence gathering process. This alerts us to trends in advertising and highlights emerging issues that need our intervention.

 

Can I get an update on my enquiry?

 

If your complaint is to be pursued with immediate effect, or if we need further information from you, we will let you know. Otherwise, we are unable to give you an update on your enquiry. Please be assured, however, that all of the comments we receive are helpful to inform our current and future work.

 

We do publish details of cases that we formally investigate on our website. You can subscribe to email alerts to be updated on new Rulings by the ASA Council as well as details of the consultations we run and other matters that you may be interested in.

 

Do I need to do anything else?

If the content you are complaining about is time-limited e.g. Instagram Stories, if possible, please provide us with a full recording – a screen-recording or a download - including any audio. This will allow us to make a more complete assessment of your concerns and enable more comprehensive follow-up action. If you have a recording, please send it to us now, ensuring that you quote your unique reference number provided above. 

But if you are not complaining about time-limited media, you do not need to do anything. If we need further information, we will contact you.

 

Is there anyone else that can help me?

 

Should we determine there is another organisation that is better placed to deal with your complaint, we will let you know. However, please see our FAQs for details of other organisations that may be able to help you.

 

Thank you again for taking the time to contact us.

 

Yours sincerely,

The Advertising Standards Authority Ltd (trading as ASA), registered in England and Wales, Registered Number 0733214

 

 

 

 

 

 

From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Nov 19, 2021 at 10:03 PM
Subject: Complaint Vs Supermarkets (Aldi, ASDA, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco & Waitrose) for deceptive marketing of ‘Responsibly Farmed’ & ‘Responsibly Sourced’ Scottish Salmon
To: <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>
Cc: Trading Standards <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>

Scottish Salmon Watch believes that supermarkets across the UK – namely Aldi, ASDA, Lidl, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Waitrose – are in breach of The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 with respect to Regulation 5 (Misleading Actions) and Regulation 6 (Misleading Omissions). 

 

Scottish Salmon Watch has consulted the Competition and Markets Authority’s ‘Green Claims Code’ (20 September 2021) and does not believe that supermarkets are being truthful or accurate to consumers in marketing Scottish salmon as “responsibly farmed” or “responsibly sourced”.  Nor have supermarkets substantiated such claims. 

 

Scottish Salmon Watch notes via the 'Green Claims Code' that the CMA and the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) share certain functions and that is why we’ve copied the ASA into this complaint and have copied the CMA and Trading Standards into our complaint to the ASA.   We note that enforcement action can be taken against supermarkets and that the ASA can take action against misleading advertisements too.  Scottish Salmon Watch would consider taking legal action against supermarkets but asks that the CMA, Trading Standards and the ASA take enforcement action to stop misleading environmental claims of “responsibly farmed” and “responsibly sourced” Scottish salmon. 

 

Please download a letter and hard evidence to substantiate and corroborate our complaint:

 

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 <[email protected]>
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 <[email protected]>

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: 

• If you think you’re being treated unfairly or things are going wrong with a product or service, you can find out who to contact for help here. 

• You can find out more about current open and closed CMA cases.  

• The CMA cannot provide legal advice or guidance on compliance with the law on an individual basis. We also can’t say whether a specific situation could breach the law. Information on how businesses can stay on the right side of competition lawand avoid unfair terms in sales contracts is available on our website. 

Thank you for taking the time to contact us. We rely on intelligence from members of the public to help us tackle anti-competitive behaviour and protect people and businesses from being disadvantaged by unfair practices.  

We’ll be in touch again soon. 

General Enquiries 

Competition and Markets Authority 

 

 

From: Celia Howarth <[email protected]>
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 <[email protected]>, David Barber <[email protected]>

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 <[email protected]>
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 <[email protected]>
Cc: David Barber <[email protected]>

 

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 <[email protected]>
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 <[email protected]>
Cc: David Barber <[email protected]>

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 <[email protected]>;
Received: Thu Dec 09 2021 12:30:48 GMT+0000 (Greenwich Mean Time)
To: General Enquiries <[email protected]>; General Enquiries <[email protected]>;
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):

Officially The Worst in the World: Scottish Salmon from the Western Isles!!!

 

The only region in Scotland which scores a "yellow" rating is Orkney where Mowi does not operate. 

 

Furthermore, the report published damning details of antibiotic use at marine salmon farms in Scotland between 2015 and 2019 (there was a 14-fold increase spearheaded by Mowi who accounted for 57% of antibiotics used): Named & Shamed: Increasing Antibiotic Use by Salmon Pharms in Scotland - just say no to drugs, say no to Scottish salmon!

 

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

 

Inside Scottish Salmon Feedlots is also questioning 'responsibly sourced' salmon (from Mowi's Hellisay salmon farm) sold by Sainsbury's - detailing high sea lice infestation: https://www.facebook.com/issf.org.uk/photos/a.571505336599210/1381136115636124

 

Please pass this information onto your investigations team.

 

Thanks,

 

Don

 

 

 

From: General Enquiries <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Dec 14, 2021 at 9:35 AM
Subject: [Official] CMA213680-1 Response from Competition and Markets Authority
To: Don Staniford <[email protected]>

Classification: Official

 

Our ref: CMA213680-1

 

Dear Mr Staniford

 
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.  

You can contact the Food Standards Agency by telephone on 020 7276 8829 (England) or 029 2067 8999 (Wales) or 028 9041 7700 (Scotland) or online at [email protected](England) or [email protected] (Wales) or [email protected] (Northern Ireland). You can also find out more about its work at https://www.food.gov.uk/. 

For Scotland go to https://www.foodstandards.gov.scot/contact-us. 

We think the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) may be better placed to help you.

You can contact DEFRA by telephone on 03459 335577 or online at Contact Form: Defra Helpline.

DEFRA is responsible for safeguarding the UK’s natural environment and supporting the UK’s food and farming industry. You can also find out more about its work at www.defra.gov.uk.
 

 

Yours sincerely 

Bethany Skyrme (she/her) | Business Support Assistant | Strategy, Communications and Advocacy | Competition and Markets Authority
The Cabot | 25 Cabot Square | London | E14 4QZ