Certification
Many of the portions of Scottish salmon for sale in UK retailers are labelled with the RSPCA logo, or a logo declaring the product is ‘responsibly’ or ‘sustainably’ farmed, but what do these actually mean?
The labels assert that the salmon has been produced to certain standards. The reliability of these labels depends upon whether assessment is undertaken regularly by an external independent third party. Several sets of standards, or ‘certification’ schemes, have been developed by salmon farming companies and by other organisations.
The certification schemes are shown in the table below, with a brief description of the main criteria of each. Scottish legislation and the Code of Good Practice are included for comparison. Several retailers have their own internal standards in addition to or instead of external third party schemes. We have applied a simple weighting and score* to each scheme across 11 different criteria, with a total of 33 points available. Those deemed to have the strictest requirements in any single criteria have also been highlighted. Several of the schemes are under review, and the table is subject to change. Direct comparison of the schemes is difficult due to the different methods of assessment used and the table should be used for guidance only.
Whilst some certification schemes assert a higher standard, an ideal solution has not yet been reached and a score of 33 does not indicate a perfect scheme.
Summary of Certification scheme criteria
- Strictest requirements (*3)
- Requirements (*2)
- Recommendations (*1)
- No recommendations or requirements (*0)