Does a british flag on food packaging make it percieved as better quality?

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CowboyBob500@reddit

Sometimes that applies - less distance travelled = fresher for example. But I don't think too much about it. If I saw a US flag on anything though, I'd definitely assume the quality was lower.

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definitely true for food but in the case of the us. a us flag on soft drinks would be a very good sign. they still put real sugar or at least fructose in drinks. we're stuck with articial sweeteners in everything here these days

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Lost_Ninja@reddit

I don't have any issue getting UK soft drinks with sugar (not HFCS) or artificial sweetener in. I just steer clear of low sugar/low fat drinks.

Honestly I'd prefer sugar free to mean unsweetened, rather than tastes vile... but so many people I talk to say that they taste fine, so it's probably just me being too fussy.

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

you do. everyone does it's just they don't make it that clear. all the drinks in shops that seem like the sugar versions are half sugar and half artificial sweeteners. the problem is that everything is low sugar.

you should check out fevertree drinks though. they have low sugar by putting less sugar in whilst being sweetener free

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Lost_Ninja@reddit

Yeah I like Fevertree, I mostly stick to either in your face full "fat" drinks in moderation (like Monster etc), or make my own with some of the more premium diluting juices. Belvoir and Mr Fitzpatrick's are my current favourites. And TBH I drink less of those because they're so damned expensive. :/

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

fair play. monsters a good example of what i mean. it's not full fat despite branding itself as such, it's half artificial sweetener.

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murderouslady@reddit

Artificial sweetness are in the diet versions.

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vzzzbxt@reddit

I thought they rarely used real sugar in us soft drinks and food, it's cheaper to use hfcs

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

it's more common to see us soft drinks with only real sugar, effectively everything but coke in the uk is half real sugar and half artificial sweeteners on non diet options which defeats the point.

they use a fair bit of hfcs but even then that's still better than the artificial sweeteners we get in drinks here. nearly everything's got sucralose in which is just chlorinated sugar. quite grim

the main thing is just that in us soft drinks you have the option of buying real sugar or hcfs drinks, neither is available here outside of coke.

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shindig7@reddit

So you are complaining that our soft drinks have less sugar and therefore are healthier for you than US soft drinks?

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its-got-electrolytes@reddit

Sugar’s just sugar. Artificial sweeteners mess up your stomach, your brain…same as most additives and stuff. Eat real food.

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shindig7@reddit

You got any evidence to back up any of that? All of the scientific studies I've read on artificial sweeteners is that they are perfectly safe to consume in normal quantities. However, sugar has been shown to massively contribute to weight gain, obesity, type 2 diabetes, general metabolic disorder and soft drinks containing sugar are known to be a significant factor in the obesity crisis.

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Historical_Heron4801@reddit

Highly recommend Chris van Tulleken's book "Ultra Processed People" for a dive into why real foods are almost always a healthier choice. I haven't finished it yet, and this applies to much more than sugar but as a very basic summary of what I've read so far... If your body is told sugar/fats/proteins are coming (via taste receptors and other indicators) it prepares to receive that sugar/fat/protein. When it doesn't receive what it expects, but a substitution, it tells the body it's still hungry, you eat more, hello obesity crisis.

That's not to say that an excess of sugar in the diet is a good thing, it still contributed to many chronic conditions. But that if you are going to indulge, it's better to use the real thing.

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MaidInWales@reddit

Shindig... there's a name from the past.

Yes, sugar has been shown to contribute to all of the above. That doesn't make artificial sweeteners healthy. There are several studies that show the negative impact of artificial sweeteners, the Diabetes UK site is worth a visit. When my ex was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes he was told by the diabetic nurses that it was best to cut out sugar all together but if that was too difficult, it was better to have a small amount of sugar than to use artificial sweeteners.

I avoid them as I have a neurological condition with symptoms similar to MS and the symptoms are exacerbated by artificial sweeteners. I know from various sites that I am not alone in this.

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shindig7@reddit

Interesting, have we interacted before?

I never said artificial sweeteners are healthy in and of themselves, I said they are more healthy than full sugar drinks because they don't contain sugar and/or calories. If you like the taste of these drinks but want to reduce your caloric intake and be healthier then zero sugar drinks are the better option.

There are studies here and there that discuss the risks of artificial sweeteners, I've read up quite a lot of them. Generally the ones that show they are harmful are animal studies and the dose is incredibly high, much higher than a person would normally consume in a day. There is far more scientific evidence and consensus that sugary drinks are unhealthy and contribute to weight gain. There's a reason the government has introduced a sugar tax, it's to help us all lose weight.

I'll have a look at the diabetes UK website linked above although I strongly disagree with the premise that sugar free drinks can affect your blood glucose. I'm Type 1 diabetic myself and frequently drink sugar free beverages like coke zero, Robinson's etc. I do not have to take any insulin at all when drinking these drinks, they do not contain sugar and will not cause your blood glucose to rise.

I'm very surprised the diabetic nurse advised your ex that sugary drinks would be better than sugar free drinks. That goes against the advice diabetic patients should receive.

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MaidInWales@reddit

I knew someone on another forum who went by the name shindig, your style of writing and tone is very similar, a coincidence no doubt.

The diabetic nurse did not say that sugary drinks would be better than sugar free drinks, and that wasn't what I said either. She advised that it was best to cut out sugar but if that was too difficult, e.g. sugar in tea or coffee, then it was better to reduce your sugar as much as possible, ideally no more than half a teaspoon per cup and no more than 4 cups a day, than to use artificial sweeteners. She was NOT suggesting that people continued drinking sugary drinks such as non-diet coke, that would obviously be ridiculous. This was 20 years ago and research has, of course, moved on since then, however at the time the emphasis was more on reducing fat intake and simple carbohydrates than sugar.

Based on my own experience and the experience of others with neurological conditions that are exacerbated by artificial sweeteners, I am more concerned about the neurological side of the coin than the blood glucose side.

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shindig7@reddit

Ahh interesting! I don't think I really post much on forums outside of Reddit! It could be a coincidence!

I'm sorry I misunderstood what you meant. That makes more sense. My experience will also be different being type 1 rather than type 2.

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MaidInWales@reddit

Have you used chat rooms in the past?

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shindig7@reddit

Hahah no never! Shindig is the name I use in online games (Steam etc.) so occasionally I use forums for certain video games but never chat rooms!

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/news/2022/aug/popular-artificial-sweeteners-found-to-raise-blood-sugar.html

amongst others. as for the dangers of sugar, well yes over consumption of anything causes health problems. if you drink too much water that will happen. realisticially, a healthy level of sugar intake is not a problem so the option should be there for sugar only drinks.

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shindig7@reddit

Everything you've said in this comment could be applied to artificial sweeteners. The difference is that consuming the same volume of sugary drinks is more unhealthy than consuming the same volume of sugar free drinks. Both are okay in moderation but if you want to be healthier then choose sugar free.

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

no. sugar is naturally occuring in fruits and all foods to some degree, it's both natural and in regular amounts needed in any healthy diet. the same is not true of artificial sweeteners, any amount is more than is natural and any amount can have negative effects on the gut or cause migraines

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shindig7@reddit

This is an "appeal to nature" logical fallacy. Just because something is "natural" doesn't mean it's inherently "good" and just because something is "artificial" doesn't mean it's automatically "bad". Cyanide and arsenic are both natural but very bad if consumed.

Also, to use your own argument for a second, at what point does something stop being natural and become artificial. You're correct that sugar occurs naturally in many foods that we eat, especially fruit. However the "natural" sugar used in Coke is not picked straight from a plant, there is a significant amount of factory processing to get cane sugar. Is it still natural? If so why is sucralose not considered natural, it is ultimately derived from table sugar which you consider "natural".

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secretvictorian@reddit

Not arguing with you on your sound point of sugar = obesity / diabetes etc. Just a point to back up the person arguing with you as you asked for 'proof my son has severe ADHD any sweetener additives I.e not sugar send him utterly up the wall talking screaming banging his head, running out into busy roads, violence. It scares him. Its a blow to parents like us, to be charged extra for something that our son needs.

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

they're not healthier. they're more artificial which is not good as someone else pointed out quite well. it's a matter of the choice to have soft drinks that taste nice and don't have artificial nastiness in, that exists with us soft drinks but not uk soft drinks.

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123twiglets@reddit

Diet coke is more artificial than regular coke? Surely they're both equally full of artificial crap

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

nope. diet cokes got more shit in. original cokes got water, sugar, caramel, phosphoric acid and some flavourings one of which is caffeine. diet coke swaps the sweeteners for aspartame and acesulfame k along with containing citric acid which regular doesn't.

aspartames one of the worst artificial sweeteners for fucking up gut health

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Edoian@reddit

ignores high fructose corn syrup

That shit is nasty and causes fatty liver disease and diabetes. We don't use that in the UK. We use actual sugar

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

was comparing uk diet coke and uk regular coke.

That shit is nasty and causes fatty liver disease and diabetes.

well yes sugar does that too when you have too much. solution is to just not have too much

We don't use that in the UK. We use actual sugar

in drinks? i wish. every single soft drink bar coke in the uk now uses artificial sweeteners. they're nasty, migraine inducing and bad for gut health. in the case of sucralose it's chlorinated sugar which is grim. using solely hfcs would be an improvement on what we have as it would be closer to only real sugar.

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Sean_13@reddit

What's so grim about chlorinated sugar?

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shindig7@reddit

Source: trust me bro...

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feuchtronic@reddit

So you're ignoring the Diabetes UK study then, and saying to trust you instead, bro

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shindig7@reddit

I replied to this comment before someone linked that study.

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shindig7@reddit

They are healthier as sugar is known to contribute to obesity, whereas the overwhelming majority of studies on artificial sweeteners shows that they are perfectly healthy to consume in normal quantities. Since they don't contain sugar and/or calories they don't contribute to weight gain directly, which is healthier than sugary drinks that do.

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AllHailTheHypnoTurd@reddit

I thought Americans use high fructose corn syrup for everything and then inject a little Red 40 into everything

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

they use less corn syrup than we do artificial sweeteners. and i'd take hcfs with red 40 over the chlorinated sugar in all the soft drinks here. but in the us you have the choice to avoid all those things and have full real sugar drinks if you want

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AllHailTheHypnoTurd@reddit

Yeah to be fair it is amazing. They have the freedom to choose and they all choose to eat so much shit that they get obese and die from diabetes.

It’s more like advertisers get the freedom to shove any old shit they want into the faces of actual humans whether it’s good for them or not, as long as they can reap enough profit

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

that's irrelevant of sugar in drinks though. america has a hideously unhealthy culture with quantity and overconsumption. you look at a country like italy, they have real sugar in their drinks and more corn syrup than we do here in the uk.

guess what? obesity rates there are a third of what they are in england where there's zero choice on drinks.

sugar tax hasn't put a dent on it here in the uk either. if you want to fix the problems some of the population has with overconsumption you need to fix the culture that normalises it.

for reference: https://data.worldobesity.org/country/italy-102/ https://data.worldobesity.org/country/england-240/

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Routine-Slide6121@reddit

Im a Brit living in the US, most real sugar drinks i see are from Mexico

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AllHailTheHypnoTurd@reddit

Hmm yeah I’m sure the socio-economic reasons far span most ingredient lists. I personally switched to Coke Zero and now I only drink Diet Coke occasionally once the sugar tax came in. I remember it being introduced and a lot of my/my friends parents refused to pay more for full fat coke so we were given the diet versions. So anecdotally I understand the move

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veryblocky@reddit

I’m not aware of any US made soft drinks with sugar in, pretty sure all the main brands use HFCS instead. I know it’s what I’m used to, put whenever I’ve been to the US, their soft drinks have always tasted much worse than ours

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

pepsi have a widely available real sugar option in the us, amongst others. largely there's just more variety in the states on drinks. the switch to the artificial stuff over here's still quite new. pepsi only changed their recipe about 2 years ago.

hcfs can have a bit of a weird texture from it being more syrupy, makes sense it might be a bit offputting. but tastewise it's definitely better than the chlorinated sugar in everything here and a lot less headachey

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R2-Scotia@reddit

Pepsi? You mean Mountain Dew Throwback?

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pepsi-Cola_Made_with_Real_Sugar

this stuff. i bought some imported a bit ago since they ruined pepsi here and it's dead nice. found a local shop that sells nigerian and arabian pepsi since and that's also nice

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R2-Scotia@reddit

I don't recall ever seeing it, TBF I lived in Texas which is Coke turf but Pepsi is sokd there

Mountain Dew Throwback you can get in a lot of corner shops and aome supermarkwts, but it's a specialty item

Dublin Dr Pepper is a whole other conversation

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

yeah, not necessarily saying it's everywhere. more the general point that if you go into a us shop they will have their 'sodas' with a couple options of at minimum corn syrup and a few with real sugar.

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R2-Scotia@reddit

There is a bougie soda company called Maine Root, all their stuff is real sugar. You see it a hipstery burger places as the fountain soda vendor.

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

noted. i've found in home bargains and similar shops there's a brand called calypso sodas. looks us based and they do some nice lemonades

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Ok_Mark9169@reddit

"Chlorinated sugar"??

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

sucralose, it's chlorinated sucrose. they make it by soaking cane sugar in bleach and it has been put in nearly every soft drink, including non diet ones. even in the us they don't use sucralose in their most artificial products.

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Ok_Mark9169@reddit

But we're talking about sugar not the sugar-derived artifical sweetener sucralose.

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

not sure what you mean. i mentioned chlorinated sugar as it's what's in every soft drink here whereas in the states you can have corn syrup or just normal sugar. both of which have a better taste alongside less trouble with migraines and gut health than chlorinated sugar or other artificial sweeteners

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StrangeKittehBoops@reddit

Yep Sucralose is made from regular table sugar (sucrose) through a chemical process that replaces three hydroxyl groups with chlorine atoms.

There are recent studies that show it is not as healthy as claimed and can cause issues with diabetes. There are also more recent studies than that if you want to search. I have had raised BG levels when drinking a fizzy drink with sucralose in it, I was warned at the hospital, and I can't have it anymore

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R2-Scotia@reddit

You have to go out of your way to get soda with sugar there. The most common is Coke from Mexico, which is $5+ for a medio litro.

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

Real sugar? Dont they use corn syrup most of the time?

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Phoenix_Kerman@reddit

a fair amount of the time, but they use corn syrup far less than artificial sweeteners are used here on top of it being nowhere near as bad as artificial sweeteners. it's still closer to sugar.

they also just have more variety and there's a lot of brands like pepsi where in the states you can get diet which is genuinely artificially sweetened for the sake of calories, but you also get the standard corn syrup one and they sell a real cane sugar with nothing artificial in.

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kuro68k@reddit

US due to poor standards and tariffs, Israel due to genocide. Do we ever get Russian products?

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YourLittleRuth@reddit

Vodka, possibly? But I believe there is also Ukrainian vodka available.

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Lost_Ninja@reddit

I generally take it with a pinch of salt, Red Tractor (or similar) label would for me be more meaningful as actually raised and sold in the UK as opposed to finished or repackaged in the UK which a lot of packaging with the Union Jack is.

I think it depends a little on the brand and price too, I'd be far more likely to trust a British labelled product to be British (made in UK and not just finished from imported) if I pay more, or the brand is a more premium one. Than otherwise.

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BagIll2355@reddit

Only care about looking at country of origin if it’s strawberries for some reason British strawberries are vastly superior, the Spanish ones just don’t seem to be as good.

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Queen_of_London@reddit

It depends on the item. I know that our standards for egg-laying chickens are higher than most countries - still far, far too low, but not quite the absolute hell it is in some countries - so I'd prefer British eggs. TBF, this is not difficult.

If I ate meat I'd prefer it for the same reasons plus fewer food miles.

I'd buy British fruit and veg more often if I could. It's oddly difficult to get British apples for some reason, but we do grow them.

Otherwise in general we have more workers' rights than some countries do (with improvements still needed, but unless you're making everything at home sometimes you have to choose the less-bad rather than the perfect). The EU is obviously fine, and often better, and some other countries are too, so British is just *one* of the labels that encourages me to buy those items, not the only one.

Also that's always done with some scepticism about how "British" the item actually is. Sometimes it really will be - fresh products especially - but sometimes it's a fudge and it was really only packaged here.

Online shopping makes it harder to tell, and obviously sometimes cost makes a difference - I'm not rich enough to be as ethical as I'd like.

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prustage@reddit

No difference in quality, and I don't particularly see why I should support British farmers in preference to farmers anywhere else in the world. But it does mean it has a lower carbon footprint since less transportation and refrigeration were involved. So it does encourage me to buy it.

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Creative_Bank3852@reddit

The Union flag does nothing for me, but if I see a Welsh dragon on a product I will happily pay more for the privilege of supporting the local boyos (happens most with milk, butter and eggs)

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kaiderson@reddit

Glad you support the British products

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Intelligent-Bee-839@reddit

When I see Lamb labelled as Welsh in my local supermarket, it’s always charged at a premium and I wouldn’t pay extra for it. It’s no better than lamb from elsewhere in the UK.

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Dros-ben-llestri@reddit

Same. Will always choose a dragon over the union flag.

Despite the fact there's a really good chance the produce still comes from Wales and is just packaged to be sold in all UK stores...

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TheGrackler@reddit

It’s likely to be from the country I’m in, and thus higher quality by dint of being fresher (and better for the environment, local farmers etc).

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Whithorsematt@reddit

Not better quality per se. But more attractive due to less food miles.

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spinachmuncher67@reddit

Nope. Ill buy British whenever I can to support our businesses. I won't buy anything from the US.

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Sailing-Mad-Girl@reddit

A Union flag on food packaging will make me look for a St Andrews Cross. I WILL buy English products in preference to ones of unknown origin.

Red Tractor means higher quality to me.

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throwaway_t6788@reddit

off topic but similarly what about all companies getting tye hrh approval. you see on some products .

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ConsistentCatch2104@reddit

I wouldn’t think better quality. I would just think higher price.

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AnxiousAppointment70@reddit

I prefer to choose produce with the flag because it's not travelled as far. I never understood why people bought New Zealand lamb that's been brought half way round the world when we have sheep farms here.

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cdh79@reddit

Yes.

Except for bacon, ham and any cured meats. For those you want no Nitrates, so that German and Scandinavian.

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Aggravating_Fill378@reddit

You should contact Kantar about this for your project.

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Teembeau@reddit

No. it's meaningless. There's lots of ways to get better quality but that it was made in the UK means nothing. Same as how Ginsters are made in Cornwall and are garbage.

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Substantial_Quit3637@reddit

Nope, i'm irish and it actually mildly puts me off as id rather have Produce not shipped over water if its available on my own landmass

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SomeRannndomGuy@reddit

I trust markers like "organic" more when they are on British produce as I know how anal our farming standards & enforcement are.

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spikylellie@reddit

It just means that's the best thing they could think of for marketing. For fruit and vegetables, it's telling you it hasn't flown too far, which is good. For any other food it's probably the basic version (still perfectly fine) rather than the free-range, organic or free-from-whatever version (because otherwise that thing would be more prominent).

For any manufactured product it's totally meaningless.

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OK_LK@reddit

As someone loving in Scotland, I prioritise food with a Scottish flag on the packaging over a British flag

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LegendaryTJC@reddit

It should mean it travelled less, and in theory should be fresher.

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maceion@reddit

It is an indicator of source , not quality. I use it to spend what I earn in UK for UK goods; thus supporting other UK folk.

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FeelingDegree8@reddit

Depends. Mostly I see it as better because it hasn't been sent here on a massive ship and is probably fresher.

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IrisAngel131@reddit

It's not necessarily higher quality, it's about wanting to support local farmers and have the food I eat have less miles to get it from farm to me.

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kuro68k@reddit

It's the opposite for me. Irish steak is so much better. British farmers supported Brexit too, and I don't want to reward that.

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zombiezmaj@reddit

They've already been punished by losing the subsidy they used to get from EU for growing crops. The British government promised to keep it in place and hasn't... which tbf I only know about because of Clarksons farm. His lost I around £80k a year because of Brexit.

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kuro68k@reddit

It may be the only way they will ever learn. Apparently not enough to get them to start campaigning to fix it though.

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zombiezmaj@reddit

I don't want to lose British farmers. If they all end up selling and we lose farms we will rely heavily on other countries for food and prices will skyrocket. They've lost a lot of money and are struggling to keep farms working as they get paid poorly for what they produce and the shops get majority of profit because they decide what they buy it for and what they then sell it for.

To completely snub them is cutting off your nose to spite your face at this point.... I will keep buying British as a priority to keep our farms here producing food

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IAmLaureline@reddit

British farmers voted the same way on Brexit as the rest of the country. No more, no less. Do you boycott the bus as the driver might have voted Brexit?

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kuro68k@reddit

I boycott companies if I know their position on Brexit. Warburtons bread, Weatherspoons pubs. The fishing industry in general. They can come out and admit their mistake, and campaign to rejoin any time.

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AnnieByniaeth@reddit

The problem is not so much that they might have supported brexit, but that they are displaying a sign that was strongly encouraged by Johnson at the time of brexit in a thinly veiled attempt to boost jingoism and thus to help sure up Brexit.

The fact that those displaying the Union flag very prominently have made the decision to do so (mostly) following Johnson's encouragement does suggest some degree of political agreement with that cause.

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Mimmitar@reddit

Same for me as well, try to buy local and seasonal when possible as it's something I can control that should reduce my own carbon footprint.

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zombiezmaj@reddit

I want to support British farmers because I dont want our country to completely lose the ability to feed itself... so if I have the option of strawberries from Portugal or strawberries from a farm in UK I will choose the latter.

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GerFubDhuw@reddit

Personally, no. I see it as a sign of lower quality hidden behind a flag to fool people with more patriotism than sense.

To me slapping flags on things seems like an underhanded marketing ploy.

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stercus_uk@reddit

It used to, yes. Nowadays as we have decided to abandon our continent wide commitments to food safety I’m more inclined to ignore it.

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IAmLaureline@reddit

I choose local fruit and veg where I can whether it's cabbages in winter or strawberries in summer.

A flag is an easier identifier than a word like 'Somerset' I suppose. And you know the food standards are high. I know I can trust any EU standards but I don't know the standards elsewhere.

I don't want to buy imported food when there is a British option available. I've yet to buy a Somerset lemon or banana but I'm sure somebody sells them

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SheepGoesBaaaa@reddit

I need to see both reared, and slaughtered in the UK, on the package Especially with pork

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4me2knowit@reddit

It irritates me enough that I’ll generally buy an alternative

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YangtzeRiverDolphin@reddit

Likewise, large flag as part of the packaging really puts me off buying it.

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kerplunkerfish@reddit

the "NOT FOR EU" def doesn't

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AdRepulsive4346@reddit

I was wondering about this….does it mean the EU has higher standards?

I always wonder why this label exists.

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riscos3@reddit

The eu sets the standards. The uk will be lowering them now that they have made a "deal" with taco. You can't keep food standards inline with the eu and allow US standards

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travis_6@reddit

Source? As far as I'm aware, we've not made any food deal with the US. I'm pretty sure the latest deal with the EU ensures we maintain the same minimum standards as the EU

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SnooRegrets8068@reddit

Sure I saw reporting on whatever the latest deal with the tarfiff mess where food was a small part of it. Basically ending with us not dropping standards because it was required for a future deal with the EU.

Too lazy to go source hunting tho.

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AddictedToRugs@reddit

The EU has lower standards.

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RedPlasticDog@reddit

I would be slightly biased towards it. I’d probably assume reasonable standards and local support

But if it’s extremely prominent with huge union flags so it looks like a gammon/daily express special then I’d ignore it.

Keep it subtle and I think most will be positive towards it.

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mrafinch@reddit

If it’s in season then the Union Flag would tempt me to get the veg, but otherwise it doesn’t affect my choice.

If I were buying meat then I’d most likely avoid anything British (despite the contradiction with above)

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AddictedToRugs@reddit

Why? Do you dislike higher welfare standards?

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mrafinch@reddit

UK standards aren’t always the highest, they’re decent, sure, it isn’t something that goes across my mind at all though ;)

It’s mainly because the last time I’ve bought meat with a Union Flag on the packet, it was watery and despite any attempts to season, remained bland.

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Terrible-Head6168@reddit

Positioning of the UK flag on food products in many cases is purposely misleading. Re processing (assembly) and country of origin are very different.

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Intelligent-Bee-839@reddit

That’s why I always read the label. “Processed in the U.K. using EU pork” or whatever would put me off.

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Lopsided_Soup_3533@reddit

No i just take it to mean it was produced here. Sometimes it might mean better quality Sometimes ppl might choose it cos of a smaller carbon footprint

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Responsible_Trash199@reddit

Personally, I see any British food as worse quality and don’t get it

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Responsible_Trash199@reddit

The downpours were probably done by British people. Dickheads

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Low-Cauliflower-5686@reddit

Yes to me it does compared to meat for example from china

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Cirieno@reddit

At this point I think it's just the companies pandering to the gammons. There's no need for the huge flag-shagging packaging that's coming out now.

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Acceptable-Music-205@reddit

To quote Moss from IT Crowd:

”Oh THAT explains it!”

The fire extinguisher had a “Made in Britain” sign on it for those unaware

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Optimal_Collection77@reddit

No flag means higher quality. It simply is information to allow me to choose to shop with a UK supplier

However the fact that it has a label says it's mass produced and probably lower quality than say the butchers in the village

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S1nnah2@reddit

No!!

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McLeod3577@reddit

Yes it absolutely guarantees - No horsemeat, no chicken dropped on the floor, no out-of-date stock moved from food processors to supermarkets, no piglets thumped and all items labelled free range are actually "free range" /s

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AddictedToRugs@reddit

I think you're confused about where the horsemeat came from.

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McLeod3577@reddit

Even if we take that one out, the others are all home grown horrors

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ReadyAd2286@reddit

There are lots of different thing folk might think. Peronsally speaking, I think "less food miles".

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Proper-Egg5454@reddit

Scottish Strawberries are superior to British strawberries, in fact many UK strawberries, potatoes and such like actually come from Scotland. If it’s got a Union Jack put it back

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InTheGreenTrees@reddit

You know the blue bits and the white X on the Union Jack are the Scottish flag right?

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nasted@reddit

I would pick products with the British flag because it means less food miles and supporting British food producers.

The price is the perceived quality.

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KlownKar@reddit

Nah. It's just gammon bait.

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Nkhotak@reddit

I don’t actively avoid products with British flags on, but I don’t take them as an indicator of anything. I always read the label to see the country of origin and if something is free-range, fair trade or organic but the flag has no legal definition so I just see it as PR. I feel that it’s sometimes used to try and indicate welfare standards or provenance that don’t actually apply to the product.

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devstopfix@reddit

For perishables - fruit, veg, fresh fish - yes. Other things, not so much.

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Sad_Introduction8995@reddit

If it’s meat, I know I’m supporting a British producer with UK standards. I’m not perfect but I buy free range chicken, and British pork.

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Geezer-McGeezer@reddit

If its american flag then lower quality. If UK for food, generally higher quality.

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_ribbit_@reddit

I see it as being produced in Britain, which is why it's there.

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Known_Wear7301@reddit

You would hope so but it's more about supporting our farmers rather than buying from abroad.

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ak30live@reddit

No. Although it is one of many factors to consider depending on what the food product is.

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rhweir@reddit

if its got a jack put it back

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

Why….?

Also, no product would have a Union Jack on, it’s only a Union Jack when on a boat.

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AddictedToRugs@reddit

That hasn't been true since 1908.

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rhweir@reddit

weird recent supermarket trend to slap a big fleg on everything since the english decided we had to do brexit, not everyone cares to look at it.

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AddictedToRugs@reddit

When it comes to meat it means higher welfare standards than the alternatives.

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Necessary-Chest-4721@reddit

Agree with previous posters. Not necessarily higher quality but less of a carbon footprint, supporting local farmers etc. If I go abroad on holiday I'll look for produce from that country, not necessarily UK products for the same reason.

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Didymograptus2@reddit

We live in Scotland and my wife has a rule “it it’s got a jack, put it back”. She will happily buy something with a saltire, Welsh flag or St George’s cross, but not the Union Flag.

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txe4@reddit

If it's food: maybe. Some UK food is definitely better - for example Strawberries. Some is meh - beef. Some is worse - watery tasteless tomatoes.

If it's food it is probably produced under acceptable conditions of hygiene and not seriously contaminated; I wouldn't want to eat any significant quantity of food produced or processed in China for example.

If it's a manufactured non-food item: AVOID AVOID AVOID. Made in England means it's shit.

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veryblocky@reddit

Really? I would assume the opposite, manufacturing in the uk is expensive, so it’s only really done with higher quality products

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txe4@reddit

It means they're expensive.

They're still shit.

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Impossible_Focus1085@reddit

Scottish Beef is renowned for its quality the world over!

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FrauAmarylis@reddit

It’s the opposite, for me.

We travel just to get good food.

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Martinonfire@reddit

Really? How strange

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ThroatUnable8122@reddit

Obviously food standards = quality. Terminally online person I see...

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Natural-Bag-9737@reddit

No one regularly posting on Reddit is in a position to call anyone else terminally online as a insult 😂

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ThroatUnable8122@reddit

The amount of time I steal from my employer is not related to the amount of grass I touch

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Natural-Bag-9737@reddit

You're the person who thinks the whole country lives on lard and sponge pudding, right?

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Demostravius4@reddit

Depends what it is imo. Strawberries? Yes. Bananas? Not so much.

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carreg-hollt@reddit

It used to matter but I occasionally see the union flag paired with 'Packed in the UK'.

Now I regard it with a degree of scepticism as just another ploy.

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MungoShoddy@reddit

I try to avoid anything with Union Jacks on it. Scottish saltire, OK. Never seen anything labelled with a Welsh dragon. A St George's cross would be fine if it didn't imply England being a hegemonic power, but you really only find that sort of un-colonialist statement in archaizing contexts like morris dance clothing.

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mom0007@reddit

Meat, I do, at least feel if I buy from the UK, it has at least had a bare minimum of welfare standards. I do rarely buy meat as it's only for guests.

Fish , I won't buy British cod as our stocks are so depleted.The rest I buy British if I can, although I'm careful with shellfish.

Vegetables I buy from a British grocer, if I buy in a supermarket then yes British if I can.

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StrangeKittehBoops@reddit

Not really, I look for the flag as it usually means it's grown and produced in the UK. Less air miles and is often quite local, depending where you live. Most of the fresh fruit and veg I buy come from within 60 miles of my home. The UK does have better food regulations than some countries, so I tend to buy British as much as possible.

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StonedJesus98@reddit

I don’t see it as necessarily meaning higher quality, but I do like to support British farmers where I can, and eat food with less mileage where possible

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mr_iwi@reddit

People don't care so much about a Union Flag where I live. Put a dragon on it and a bilingual label, and people are happy to pay a few pence more for whatever it is.

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Physical_Orchid3616@reddit

If I see a British flag on it, I question why I'm even buying it

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trysca@reddit

I tend to buy things with a baner sen piran or petroc, or failing that an english welsh, irish french Scottish or UK flag as shorthand as i try to buy local and our fresh food produce is generally better.

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Quazzle@reddit

Do you mean a Union Jack which is the flag of the United Kingdom or just any National flag from Great Britain?

Either way, personally not really, I’ll generally try to buy UK or Irish fresh meat, standards for animal welfare are typically higher in the UK than in Europe and the rest of the world, although that doesn’t always equate with better food quality.

Other than fresh meat I don’t think it matters that much.

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

I would assume they mean the Union Flag. I doubt they are talking about seeing the flag at sea.

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R2-Scotia@reddit

No, you are thinking of a saltire 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

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Indigo-Waterfall@reddit

No. It’s to imply it’s “local” produce. Meaning it has had to travel less and has less of an impact on the environment. Also it suggests you are supporting British farmers.

These are things a lot of people prioritise when choosing which products to buy.

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veryblocky@reddit

I think so, yeah. I know it isn’t a mark of quality, but there’s something subconscious that makes me prefer it. I guess I like supporting local farmers and producers too

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medic1971@reddit

I always like to buy British where possible

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QOTAPOTA@reddit

Food miles too.

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Jack-Rabbit-002@reddit

I think I might be a bit of a monster to some but I generally don't care where it comes from Lol

I mean the Horse Meat scandal didn't bother me I mean if it went down well and tasted alright Luckily most of my meat is from the local butcher but still French pig English pig Turkish lamb Welsh lamb 🤷🏻

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LionLucy@reddit

Yes, because it hasn’t travelled a long distance, which means it is fresher and riper (especially relevant for fruit and veg)

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Inevitable_Resolve23@reddit

It immediately makes me think the marketing department is trying to make me feel something and thus distract me from something else like unfair business practices, poor wages for farmers, farmwashing, etc.

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90210fred@reddit

I'd think the supplier wants me to think was UK origin, but I wouldn't assume so

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Mikeytee1000@reddit

No, it’s telling you it’s not imported

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MinistryOfFarming@reddit

look for a union jack alongside a red tractor symbol, the red tractor symbol means it is grown in the UK and the farm has been inspected. UK food and hygiene laws are much higher than most of the world, rightfully so imo but this does come at a higher cost that unfortunately doesn't always cover the cost of producing to these higher standards.

Some supermarkets are using the union jack to sell foreign produce though so you do need to be careful and read the packaging, this needs to be criminalized as it is borderline fraud imo.

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Chernyyvoron82@reddit

I always prefer British products over a non British alternative, especially for fresh produce. Less miles travelled and supporting local farmers is important to me.

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sossighead@reddit

No, and that’s not what it’s about for me. It’s about the food having travelled less distance.

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FreshPrinceOfH@reddit

No

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Broad-Section-8310@reddit

It depends. If I am buying German sausages, a Union flag on the packaging will be a mark of not-being-that-authentic. But for the vast majority of fresh produce, I would be inclined to buy UK-labelled ones over even the EU stuffs (unless quality difference is stark).

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JorgeIcarus@reddit

Yes, except for...worse*

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G30fff@reddit

I would be more trusting of British standards than just some meat that has come from an unidentified country but not necessarily the EU or New Zealand or Australia (though there are differences). But as others have said, it's important to protect your own nations economy and food supply and the best way to do that is to buy local. As well as reducing food miles (though that is a somewhat debunked concept).

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Main-Objective-1457@reddit

Appeals to the Brexit crew. But also means in theory less miles travelled so should be fresher; but in reality I’d doubt there’s hardly any difference. 7 hour drive across the country or a few hours in a plane doesn’t mean much.

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Ghanima81@reddit

Not really.

I either think it is about traceability when it is an agricultural product, or a marketing thing if it is processed food.

In the first case, it's proof of regulations and ethical respect, more than quality, even if the 2 can be adjacent.

In the second, it's about either having an ethical image for assembling in UK or having 60% or smthg of the product being produces in UK, or just plain bad marketing to sell a typical product.

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butwhatsmyname@reddit

It would depend a bit on what the product was, and the time of year.

I probably wouldn't expect British strawberries in September to be as tasty as strawberries grown overseas, but I would likely still choose them because of their lower carbon footprint.

If I were buying a product and had the choice between something manufactured in Britain or manufactured in China, for instance, I might expect the British-made item to be better quality because China has less strict safety and quality legislation.

But if it were an item made in Britain against one made in Germany - which historically has more exacting standards in product engineering - I might choose the German one.

All of this depends very much on the specific product, and is tied to my own limited understanding of (and historical and cultural biases around) international manufacturing standards.

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