An Irish MEP has pressed the EU agriculture chief in an effort to have the origin of food clearly stated on food labelling.

Ciaran Mullooly was speaking at a meeting of the European Parliament Agriculture Committee, in which European Commissioner for Agriculture Christophe Hansen also spoke.

According to Mullooly, the commissioner agreed that consumers should be given clearer information when choosing what food to buy.

In a debate on using EU-funded promotion to make the European origin of food clearer, while retaining the national identities of the food alongside EU labelling, Mullooly said: "Consumer must be able to distinguish European produce from imported food.

"How will EU-funded promotion make European origin clear, while keeping national identities, including Irish origin, visible alongside EU and quality labels?" Mullooly asked.

Commissioner Hansen told the meeting that "if it is a European product, it needs to be visible".

The commissioner also pointed to an information gap in food labelling in terms of the original source of the main component of the food, particularly for meat products.

"In a lot of processed products, specifically meat products...you will be able to see where it is processed, but you will not be able to see where the main component, the meat, is coming from," Commissioner Hansen said.

"I think that is something where the consumer is interested and where the consumer will as have a preference and be able to pay 50c more to have the European product," he added.

According to Mullooly, consumers "need to know the country where a product was produced".

"That information can help them understand the standards and requirements that applied during production, including those relating to animal welfare and food safety. Simply stating where a product was processed or packaged does not provide enough information for consumers to make a fully informed choice," the Independent Ireland MEP said.

According to Mullooly, the European Commission and the member states have agreed to prioritise country-of-origin labelling in future work on the EU Livestock Strategy.

Mullooly welcomed the commitment as "progress" but has expressed disappointment at the "pace of change".

"Consumers matter. Knowing where a food product was produced - whether it is organic or not - is not an optional extra. It is essential information that people need to make an informed decision about the food they buy," the Midlands North-West MEP said.