I see that Waitrose is the target of social media ire over its so-called "British" range of prepared meals. Its customers are offered "British lamb with mint and redcurrant" or "British lamb hotpot", both "made with New Zealand lamb". One year on from the fake farms controversy, this one deserves extra points for brazenness in attempting to stretch consumers' gullibility.

Under fire on Twitter, the UK retailer replied candidly that "British" was meant to be understood as the origin of the recipe, not the meat.

What is next? "Beef lasagna" stuffed with horsemeat to denote a recipe traditionally made with beef?

Re-branding

On Monday, Waitrose issued a statement to The Dealer saying that it was adding stickers to all the food packs. "We are about to re-launch the range with the branding ‘Classic’, removing the large ‘British’ reference from the front of pack. This was only ever supposed to denote the origin of the recipe but we understand why confusion has arisen," the company said.

Waitrose also said it was working with its supplier to explore the practicalities of using more British lamb in its ready meals.

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War of words over imported ham