Squash that bureaucrat twerp!
A food company has been warned it could face legal action over the name of its Welsh Dragon Sausages.
Trading standards said Black Mountains Smokery in Powys must also include the type of meat used in the sausages – pork – to meet labelling regulations.
The boss of the firm in Crickhowell said pork was listed on the label and called it “bureaucracy gone mad”.
Jon Carthew said: “I don’t think any of our customers actually believe that we use dragon meat in our sausages.
“We use the word because the dragon is synonymous with Wales and I think everyone who buys from us knows that.”
A spokesman for Powys Council said: “The product Welsh Dragon Sausage was not sufficiently precise to inform a purchaser of the true nature of the food.
“I don’t think anyone would imagine that dragon meat was being used but we would not want vegetarians to buy the sausages believing they were meat free.
Give me a break!
Thanks, Joshua.
Looks like PC just made it to the food bins. This is just as bad as when product labeling mentions “naturally flavored” then when you move to the bottom of the product wrapping it mentions “artificially flavored” definite Leno material if you ask me.
Of course this is silly. There are many foods that do not reference exactly what is in them
Head Cheese is actually (cow) brains.
Welsh Rabbit is toast and cheese, not meat.
Plum Pudding is a fruit cake or bread.
Being vegetarian, I can tell you that we ALWAYS read the ingredient labels.
Jon Carthew’s remark that he doesn’t think any customers actually believe the sausage contains dragon meat seems intended to make the whole situation seem much more ludicrous than it actually is. The fact remains that the company failed to declare the type of meat that was used, in the label location required by law. I can sympathize with his embarrassment over neglecting to read the regulations before approving the label, but perhaps he’s learned an important lesson in commerce.
I’ve eaten hot dogs.
#4, FYI: “The ingredients – including pork – are listed on the Welsh Dragon Sausages’ label but both the supplier and Black Mountains Smokery were informed it was an offence and they were breaking the law over the misleading name.”
it was the name of the product. At my house, we eat Lucky Elephant rice. I will have to make sure I complain that it contains no elephant.
Try actually reading the article, “Gary Marks,” before you throw big words like ludicrous around. It states the label clearly shows the meat is pork, it’s just not in the title.
This is like politicians complaining that “Jimmy Dean Sausage” might fool people into thinking sausage is actually made from 100% country bumpkin, or that “Lucky Charms” are neither lucky or charming.
Jimbo, from what I’ve gathered in the article, sausage seems to have slightly different labeling requirements from your Lucky Elephant rice. And for the record, the lucky elephants are the swift ones who get away. Don’t buy the Unlucky Elephant rice 😉
#7, do you really think Carthew’s remark wasn’t intended to make the situation seem ludicrous? It clearly doesn’t reflect the actual concerns raised by the trade council about the need to include the basic type of meat in the product title. They were fully aware that it was listed in the fine print, but that wasn’t enough.
I can see it now…
Finger Sandwich…
Baby Food…
Cajun Sausage… (Contains real Cajun’s!)
Mars bar. (Warning:does not contain bits of Mars!)
Oh I can’t wait for the flood of better examples than these.
I hate to bring this up Mr. Fusion, but head cheese is made from scrapes of meat on the pigs head encased in gelatin. Traditionally you clean the head an remove all organ including the brain. You then boil it for hours rendering the gelatin from the skull marrow along with the loose flesh. The commercial product may contain other scrapes of meat. Another popular name for it is souse. Not that bad with a decent vinegar splashed on it along side a good water cracker.
““I don’t think any of our customers actually believe that we use dragon meat in our sausages.”
I imagine the dragons resent that assumption. What’s wrong with dragon meat?
Psalm 148:7
Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps.
/agree w/ #10… when I buy gator sausage, it’d better HAVE gator in it, not pork
11. Thanks for the clarification, i will go throw up now.
Q. What is Blood Pudding?
Does Spotted Dick actually have……………..nm
Since you asked. Blood Pudding or as it is more often referred to, “What Is That?, has these ingredients.
1 quart pig’s blood
12 ounces bread crumbs
1/2 lb. suet
Salt and pepper, to taste ( I would recommend 300 to 400 pounds of each to offset ingredient #1)
1 quart milk
1 cup cooked barley
1 cup dry rolled oats
1 ounce ground mint (this ingredient is included so that when you find out what you just ate and toss your cookies, you are left with fresh minty breath)
Recipe not included because, well, who the hell would want it?
Hey, what about Smarties? Remember all those really nerdy kids in school? Well, where are they now?
Gary Marks…..this company has been marketing these sausages for years, without a problem. They clearly list the ingredients and pork is clearly listed. This is just another example of Nanny state going nuts.
My Grandfather (Mom’s side) used to make Blood Sausage, same thing as Blood Pudding, only he made it with Italian spices (he was Italian). And when I first went to Scotland, my mates took me to a fish and chip shop, where I learned that no self-respecting chip shop was without pickled onions and Black Pudding which is the same thing as Blood Pudding. That stuff was gross.
Joshua, this company may have been marketing their sausage this way for years without the kind of “problem” you’re thinking of (I won’t presume to know what that is), but a lesser kind of problem is simply unclear labeling — that’s what these regulations are designed to avoid.
I happen to prefer beef sausage myself, and if I go into a store and every package is simply labeled “sausage” (or “welsh dragon sausage”) then I have to check all the ingredients lists before I can make an informed choice, even for such a basic preference as the type of meat that was used. I’d be irritated, especially if I were in a hurry, but I probably wouldn’t become violent and take hostages, so it’s not really a huge problem.
The reasoning behind this particular regulation is that some information is so basic that it should be more prominent on the package than a simple notation on the ingredient list (the equivalent of the fine print of a contract). Calling this “another example of Nanny state going nuts” might be a slight overreaction. A little extra clarity in labeling might someday help you avoid buying roadkill sausage by mistake 😉
Gary — I guess no one ever explained to you how an “ingredients list” works. There is no way you have to read all of the ingredients list.
The ingredients on that list are there in the percentage order of their composition in the food product. Hopefully, if you’re eating beef sausage, for example — beef is #1 in the list. If you look at the Dragon Sausage label, the first item is pork.
Nothing extra is required, though — it would be nice if they told you the exact percentage of all those other ingredients in something like JimR’s hot dogs.
giap, yes, I know the ingredients are listed in that order, but if I’m choosing among 5 different sausages, that’s 5 different ingredients lists that I have to look for (usually on the back), rather than being given this useful and basic piece of information at a glance. I didn’t mean to suggest that I had to read each list in its entirety, although once I’ve got my reading glasses on, I just might – hehe.
I just hand the package to my wife and ask, “Can I eat this without dying?”
I never remember to bring my reading glasses into the store.
This kind of crap would never have happened if George Bush hadn’t waged an illegal war in… what? Not That? Okay…
Obviously the threat of fundamental religions needs to be stopped, and first we need to look at our schools… huh? Oh… Sorry…
Clearly our civil rights need to be protected from the UCLA police depar… what now?
The Wii is clearly better than… no?
Well what then?
Dragon sausage? WFT!?!?!?! I’m sorry but I don’t care if Dragons are an endangered species… I can only have so many knee jerk opinions at one time and I have no room for anything related to Dragons!
#21, theres a simple solution that doesn’t require the use of force to your problem.
Don’t buy it.
They dont get your money, you dont get what may or may not be the assmeat of a dragon, and noone had to have a gun pointed at anyone to make it happen. tada?
Now think how they’ll react when this company comes out with Environmentalist Sausage: With real bits of environmentalists!
#25 James Hill, that would invalidate the age-old axiom that “you don’t want to see how sausage is made,” wouldn’t it? Too many people would actually be lining up to watch them grind up the environmentalists 😉
These bureaucrats got it right. This actually savfes the company money by following these well meaning regulations. This avoids any confusion by customers and prevents any lawsuits over the mislabeling.
Timely action indeed by the nanny state.
There should be more of it. You should all be warned that the following are not what they may first seem:
Fish fingers, Toad in the hole, Welsh rabbit (OK, I know it is correctly termed “rarebit”); Plum pudding, Faggots, Bombay duck, Hot dogs and Sweetbreads.
Now, you’ve been told. Don’t come snivelling to me if you make a mistake in future.
Have a listen to The Now Show BBC Radio 4 podcast, they cover the dragon sausages – genius!
beef (sic) wellington – mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
penguin biscuits – crunchy
milkway bars – allgold chocolates
someone needs their R’s kicking!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!