Fifteen complaints were formally filed earlier this month (1 August) against supermarkets (Aldi, ASDA, Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, Tesco); the salmon farming sector (Grieg Seafood Hjaltland, Loch Duart & Loch Duart Artisan Smokehouse, Scottish Salmon Company, Scottish Sea Farms, Scottish Salmon Producers Organisation, Wester Ross Fisheries); and companies smoking and processing farmed salmon (Forman & Son, John Ross Jr, Edinburgh Salmon Company, St. James Smokehouse).
Complaints were filed with the following Trading Standards agencies in the UK: City of Westminster, Tower Hamlets, West Yorkshire, Warwickshire, Hertfordshire, Highland, Western Isles, Aberdeen, Shetland, Dumfries & Galloway, Perth & Kinross, Stirling and Edinburgh.
The complaints relate to breaches in relation to "misleading actions" and "misleading omissions" as defined by the Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008.
"Our complaints detail systematic consumer fraud and misleading advertising of farmed salmon products sold and marketed in the UK and internationally via online sales and marketing as well as in-store sales," states a letter to the Competition & Markets Authority (1 August) from Jenny Scobie, Chair of Protect Wild Scotland.
"Foreign-owned corporations are exploiting the world renowned and prized image of Scottish salmon – an iconic image of Scotland – to obtain a price premium,” continued the letter to the Competition & Markets Authority.
