Dispatches claims shouldn't be swept under the carpet

Published: 18 September, 2008

During a tedious long train journey earlier this week I had plenty of time to ponder the conundrum facing the industry over how much information they should or should not be including on the average wine label.

According to The Sun's Jane Moore and the attention-grabbing team behind this week's Channel 4 Dispatches programme, the wine industry is colluding to keep all its little secrets hidden away from the consumer.

It is, it claimed, being particularly economical with the truth when it comes to revealing what is in a bottle of wine. Whilst the rest of the food and drink industry is duty bound to include exactly what naughty E numbers happen to be in any given product, the wine sector has been given the all-clear by Eurocrats to keep its information to a bare minimum.

Ingredients

For those that missed it, that was the rub of the programme. What it did not do was explain that many of the long list of ingredients, like eggs and gelatine, are actually washed away in the process of winemaking, but then Moore and her team would probably still argue the average wine drinker should know they have played their part.

The wine industry finds itself in a difficult position. Yes much of the programme was tabloid television, but Moore has a record of "consumer champion" journalism and is one of our most respected - and well read - columnists.

Get out of jail

The sector may well have a get out of jail card from the EU when it comes to not having to list all the ingredients on a label, but that does not mean it should abdicate all responsibility.

This is an issue which needs addressing and steps need to be taken to look at ways in which more labelling advice can be given out. Whether we are legally bound to or not.

Train of thought

Which brings me back to my train journey.

Whilst munching on a mini pack of biscuits I wondered how the manufacturer put all its biscuit ingredients on such a tiny pack.

Simple. It said all such information was on its website.

Should we follow suit? For if Moore looked at what online labelling data the sector has in place, it might have been a harder case to defend.

Richard Siddle is the editor of Harpers magazine.