Written question asked by Elliot Morley (Independent (affiliation)) on Tuesday, 2 February 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 4 February 2010. It was answered by Baroness Jowell (Labour) on Wednesday, 10 February 2010 on behalf of the Minister for the Olympics.

Olympic Games 2012: Food

Question: To ask the Minister for the Olympics (1) if she will direct the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games to ensure that over half of the chicken and egg products on sale at the London 2012 Olympic Games are procured from producers which adhere to high animal welfare standards;

Answer: Animal welfare is extremely important and this is a central part of the London 2012 Food Vision.The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), a company limited by guarantee, is responsible for staging the London 2012 Games.In line with the recently published sustainability plan 'Towards a One Planet 2012', LOCOG has now published 'For Starters', its policy for food. This proposes benchmark and aspirational standards for how it will source food for the Games. LOCOG has set out that the Red Tractor standard will be the benchmark standard across meat, fruit, vegetables, salads, cereals and dairy.Red Tractor is a food assurance scheme, run by the Assured Food Standards organisation. It covers production standards developed by experts on safety, hygiene, animal welfare and the environment; this means that all dairy products, beef, lamb and poultry must be British. In addition, eggs must be British Lion mark free range.

Secondary information