"This madness must stop" – that was the view of one reader who discovered that food listed as having a UK country of origin had actually been packed in Turkey.

Environment and health concerns led reader Patrick Tracey to write to us, expressing his view that food should instead be produced locally as much as possible.

In a letter, Mr Tracey said: "On opening a tub of Whitworths Californian raisins to sprinkle on my breakfast cereal, I was shocked to discover they are packed in Turkey, yet still have a ‘5’ UK country of origin on the box. A recent grocery delivery revealed the chicken content of a Tesco product hailed from Thailand.

"I have, in the past, noticed Thailand chicken is in many convenience store meals and sandwiches.

"As we import a surprisingly high 48 per cent of our food these days, I did think most of it would be from the EU, especially the Netherlands and Ireland, rather than the other side of the world.

"Last weekend, The Daily Telegraph reported Covid-19 had been found on ice cream in eastern China and that the product had been made using New Zealand powdered milk and whey powder from the Ukraine!

"These few examples are obviously the tip of the iceberg, so the overall trade in food, a lot of which could be produced locally, will mean a very serious cost to the environment of shipping so many products around the world and indeed not just food (back in the 80s Marks & Spencer’s main strap line was 90 per cent of its products were made in Britain, but those days are sadly obviously long gone, as that percentage will probably today be well nigh reversed in relation to overall UK retail clothing sales and other products).

"Also, the worldwide health implications of all this, especially food, in the current climate, are more than obvious – this madness must stop."