OXFORD’S consumers have a right to know what they’re eating.

EU leaders have agreed to implement an emergency programme of DNA testing to help boost confidence in processed foods but it should never have had to come to this measure. Consumers need better information about all of the food they’re eating and for all of the ingredients, from farm to fork, to be fully traceable.

As things stand, EU food laws mean that there is no obligation for companies to label processed meat with details of its country of origin – this has got to change. We need new rules requiring processed foods – often served in our schools and hospitals – to be clearly labelled.

People in Oxford have a right to know what’s in the food they’re eating. With some manufacturers found to be relentlessly cost-cutting and ‘bulking out’ their meat products, the time for change has clearly come. I hope this latest scandal provides the political will to see something finally done on this issue.

KEITH TAYLOR Green Party MEP for the South East