A leading famers lobby group the National Farmers nion (NFU) is urging restaurateurs and caterers to print the country of origin of their meat on menus to reassure customers that it doesn't contain banned hormones, medicines or other dangerous residues.
It plans to contact the UK's major restaurant chains and contract caterers to discuss their meat procurement policies.
The NFU has also called for a ban on all imported from countries that don't adhere to the same porduction standards as the UK.
It says that countries such as Brazil,Botswana and Uruguay don't comply with EU standards and could be putting consumers health at risk
EU inspectors recently found large stockpiles of banned substances, uncludung hormones, on a Brazilian farm producing beef,lamb pigs and poultry, prompting the calls for a ban on imports.Organic pressure group the Soil Association has demanded the resumptioon of testing for growth promoters in imported meat, which stopped 18 months ago.
Peter King, chief livestock adviser at the NFU , said caterers should follow the example of the Irish Republic by providing country of origin details so consumers could make informed decisions.
"It will become a bigger issue," he warned. "We don't want consumers to boycott beff because they're concerned about hormones". Buying meat with a quality guarantee - such as the Red Tractor mark - would reassure customers, he added.