Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the extent to which chicken products from China are used to fulfil public procurement contracts in the UK.

The Government remains committed to its ambition that half of all food served in public settings is either locally sourced or certified to higher environmental standards and is open to considering all lawful means of achieving this. The Government recognises that there is limited existing data about the origin and sustainability of food in the public sector supply chain and the data landscape is complex and fragmented. Public bodies are not required to report on the origin of the food they procure. However, the Government is currently assessing what food the public sector buys and where it comes from. In due course, this will provide us with detailed insights on the extent to which public sector settings are serving food, including chicken, from local and sustainable sources, and what more can be done.