Manx Food Provenance branding which was introduced in May of last year has been declared a success with over 500 products authorised to carry the label.

Responding to a question from Castletown MHK Jason Moorhouse whether the scheme had been a success, the Minister for the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, Geoffrey Boot, said ’very much so’.

Mr Boot said: ’As of today, 556 individual products have been authorised to use the "made in" or "product of" designations and seven butchers have signed up and been authorised to use the provenance logo.

’Consumers will by now be familiar with the labelling from products as diverse as yoghurt, flour, meat, eggs, salad, ice cream and the island’s latest crop of quinoa, with further products being added to the scheme regularly.’

Mr Boot added that the labelling, appears on beer and gin bottles in stores across the UK.

Following a supplementary question from Mr Moorhouse, Mr Boot confirmed as well as a sign of quality, the labelling is used as a marketing tool.

A further question from Garff MHK Daphne Caine asked if there is any benefit economically.

Mr Boot responded that he has seen ’several million pounds of extra GDP’ from Manx produce and that the labelling is part of that.

He also revealed that ’Manx made’ labels are given to purely Manx produce where as the ’made in’ label means about 75% of the produce should be local.

Responding to a question from Kate Beecroft MHK, Mr Boot said the labels do not carry information on animal welfare.

But he stated that animal welfare in the island is of a high standard and adding it to the labelling could be explored going forward.