Mowi Challenged to Back Up 'Green Claims' (After Ocado Pass the Buck)!

Mowi Challenged to Back Up 'Green Claims' (After Ocado Pass the Buck)! https://t.co/rZepk5waE8
Scamon Scotland question claims of "100% Scottish"; "raised responsibly" & "responsible use of the environment" @MowiScotlandLtd @Ocado @SoilAssociation @SoilAssocScot @CMAgovUK @ASA_UK pic.twitter.com/1xfHWY6KqU
— Don Staniford (@TheGAAIA) February 8, 2022

Scamon Scotland today (8 February 2022) challenged Norwegian behemoth Mowi (renamed in 2019 due to "negative consumer perception" in the name Marine Harvest) to substantiate 'green' marketing claims made via 'organic' salmon sold by online retailer Ocado.

From: Don Staniford <[email protected]>
Date: Tue, Feb 8, 2022 at 1:15 PM
Subject: Misleading marketing claims re. Mowi salmon marketed via Ocado - please correct by the end of this week
To: <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>
Cc: Ocado Customer Services <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>, <[email protected]>

Will Mowi Scotland please substantiate the misleading claims made via Ocado's 'organic' salmon?

As advertised online via:

https://www.ocado.com/products/mowi-organic-salmon-fillets-576899011

https://www.ocado.com/products/mowi-organic-smoked-salmon-slices-576903011

Mowi's misleading claims are as follows:

- "100% Scottish"

- "raised responsibly"

- "independently and regularly audited to ensure a responsible use of the environment"

Ocado told Scamon Scotland yesterday (7 February 2022): "Having investigated together with the supplier, we can confirm that all organic salmon from Mowi is sourced from farms that are fully accredited by the Soil Association. Rest assured, we have very high standards for all our suppliers when it comes to the welfare of animals. If you have any specific queries relating to Mowi products, we'd suggest you contact them directly."

Please see below for Scamon Scotland's complaint filed with Ocado on 3 February 2022 and other email correspondence. This issue is also highlighted via:

Mowi's "100% Scottish" Salmon Imported from Ireland - 100% 'Organic' Bullshit!

Organic Scamon: Ocado Challenged Over Mowi's 'Responsibly' Farmed Salmon - 100% Bullshit not 100% Scottish!

Scamon Scotland points Mowi - and Ocado who are copied into this email - to the 'Green Claims Code' published by the Competition and Markets Authority in September 2021:

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/green-claims-code-making-environmental-claims

p6-7 includes:

Since Mowi knowingly imports parr and smolts for on-growing as 'organic' salmon in Scotland from Ireland (as well as depends on ova imports from outside Scotland), it is clear that the "100% Scottish" claim by Ocado and Mowi is misleading. Scamon Scotland politely requests that this claim is removed immediately by Mowi and Ocado. As I blogged this morning:

Here's trade data disclosed by the Scottish Government via FOI-2022-00272899 detailing 300,000 parr (young salmon) imported from Mowi in Ireland to on-growing in Mowi's controversial Loch Ness salmon farm:

Scottish Salmon Watch reported last month that the vast majority of ova used on 'Scottish' salmon farms are imported from Iceland, Ireland and Norway so are not "100% Scottish" as claimed by Ocado.

The FOI disclosure from the Scottish Government revealed that 582,000 salmon smolts were imported from Ireland in April 2020 to on-grow on Norwegian-owned Mowi's 'organic' salmon farms in Loch Harport and Sconser on the Isle of Skye:

More details are presented via Mowi's "100% Scottish" Salmon Imported from Ireland - 100% 'Organic' Bullshit!

In terms of the claim by Mowi and Ocado that 'organic' farmed salmon is "raised responsibly", Scamon Scotland and Scottish Salmon Watch has presented extensive evidence of how Mowi's 'organic' salmon farms (certified via the Soil Association) have discharged shellfish-killing chemicals into the marine environment as well as suffered from lice-infestation, infectious diseases and precipitated other environmental impacts. Scamon Scotland maintains that 'organic' salmon is raised irresponsibly not responsibly.

Scamon Scotland believes that 'organic' salmon is a scam, sham and a consumer con. Shame on the Soil Association for corroding their 'organic' principles by certifying toxic salmon farms - read more via:

Toxic Salmon Corrodes Soil Association's 'Organic' Principles

Please Ban Deltamethrin Use by Scottish Salmon Pharmers!

For example, Mowi's 'organic' and ASC-certified salmon farm at MacLeans Nose in Loch Sunart/Sound of Mull has reported a crustacean-killing 23 doses of toxic chemicals since January 2018 including the triple whammy of Azamethiphos, Deltamethrin and Emamectin benzoate use in August 2021 and 10 doses of toxic chemicals in the first nine months of 2021:

Mowi's other 'organic' salmon farm in Loch Sunart at Invasion Bay used 13 doses of toxic chemicals between January 2019 and June 2021 including lobster-killing Deltamethrin and crustacean-killing Emamectin benzoate:

More information on Mowi's use of toxic chemicals is detailed via:

Organic Scamon: Ocado Challenged Over Mowi's 'Responsibly' Farmed Salmon - 100% Bullshit not 100% Scottish!
Mowi's Pure Bullshit (#1 in a regular series): "hardly any chemical treatments at all"

Toxic Scottish Salmon - Chemical Use Doubles Since 2018!

Mowi's 'Host' With the Most....Toxic Chemicals & Antibiotics (certified as "responsibly farmed" by the ASC)!

In November 2021, Scottish Salmon Watch filed complaints against supermarkets - including Sainsburys and Tesco for marketing Mowi Scottish salmon as "responsibly farmed" - with Advertising and Trading Standards.

Scottish Salmon Watch wrote to the Advertising Standards Authority on 19 November 2021 attaching substantive evidence to counter Mowi's "responsibly farmed" claim:

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)

Finally, as detailed in our complaint last week, Scamon Scotland takes issue with Ocado's marketing claim that: "MOWI organic salmon (and their feed) is fully traceable plus independent and regularly audited to ensure a responsible use of the environment".

The Soil Association profits from certification of farmed salmon as 'organic' even if it is lice-infested and it is farmed via the use of toxic chemicals. Nor has the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) - the one truly independent agency responsible for auditing environmental impacts - regularly or recently conducted any environmental monitoring surveys or concluded in any shape or form that Mowi is responsible.

In fact, The Ferret and Sunday National reported on Sunday (6 February 2022) that SEPA has not been able to perform their environmental functions for years due to a cyber attack: https://theferret.scot/pollution-data-lost-cyber-attack/

Scamon Scotland understands that the Scottish Environment Protection Agency no longer conducts environmental monitoring surveys or audits of salmon farms - please read:
https://theferret.scot/fish-farm-pollution-rules-relaxed-brexit/
https://theferret.scot/environmental-rules-salmon-farming-relaxed/

In fact, there is no published data on environmental monitoring surveys since March 2020:
http://aquaculture.scotland.gov.uk/data/environmental_monitoring_surveys.aspx

And there is no published data on environmental surveys for chemical residues under salmon farms since July 2020: http://aquaculture.scotland.gov.uk/data/sealice_in_feed_treatment_residues.aspx

Scamon Scotland therefore asks Mowi to substantiate the claims made via Ocado's 'organic' salmon.

In the spirit of transparency, I have also copied into this email the Soil Association who certify Mowi's lice-infested and chemically embalmed salmon as 'organic'.

As Scamon Scotland explained to Ocado yesterday:

At the end of this week, Scamon Scotland will therefore be filing a formal complaint with Trading and Advertising Standards.

If Mowi wishes to provide substantive documentation to back up the misleading claims identified above then please do so by 4pm on 11 February 2022.

Alternatively, Mowi can provide the information to Trading and Advertising Standards at a later date.

Thanks,

Don Staniford

Director, Scamon Scotland

Green Around the Gills

Disease-ridden salmon farming is a sickness spreading all over the globe!

02/08/2022

Mowi Challenged to Back Up 'Green Claims' (After Ocado Pass the Buck)!

Recent Posts

Archives

Categories

Archives