SCOTTISH charities are launching a campaign to demand retailers provide braille labelling on food products.
To mark World Braille Day,charities are calling for a statutory duty to be placed on businesses and retailers to provide braille labels on food products detailing the name of the item and the use by and sell by dates.
Currently, braille labelling is only required for medicines, meaning the visually impaired are not able to identify the food products they wish to purchase and use.
A petition championed by Sight Scotland, Oban and District Access Panel, and Disability Equality Scotland has been published by the Citizen Participation and Public Petitions Committee at the Scottish Parliament and will now be sent to the Government for a response.
Craig Spalding, chief executive of Sight Scotland and Sight Scotland Veterans, explained: “We are today, on World Braille Day, launching a campaign calling on the Scottish Government to introduce new legislation which would force all retailers to provide braille labelling on food products.
“It is simply unfair that braille users cannot currently identify the food products they want to buy and use. People living with sight loss have the same rights as anyone else and ensuring information is available in braille is vital for the inclusion of visually impaired people in our society.
"We know that some businesses and retailers are already taking action to produce more information in braille. However, the vast majority of products are still not labelled in braille.”
Marie Harrower, a member of Oban and District Access Panel and a braille reader, adds: “I feel passionate that blind and partially sighted people should be able to identify products, especially food products, in order to store away shopping, and retrieve products quickly, easily and with the minimum of effort.
"I wonder what people with sight would think if labels were removed and they had to seek assistance or do some guessing. I am absolutely delighted that the Oban and District Access panel, Sight Scotland and Disability Equality Scotland are vigorously supporting this access issue and campaign to have braille labels on products.”
Lyn Pornaro, chief executive officer at Disability Equality Scotland comments: “Disability Equality Scotland firmly supports the introduction of braille labelling across a wider variety of goods. Statutory requirements for braille labelling are long overdue and until they’re in place visually impaired people will remain at a significant disadvantage in society.”
A link to the campaign petition can be found HERE.
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