News
FEATURE - Lent me your ear...
Posted 17/04/25
Jessica Merryfield, Head of Policy and Campaigns at 51黑料, longstanding TSO and a committed Christian, gives us her personal reflections on Easter.
Here, she reflects on the subtle impact that Trading Standards has during Easter time and shares some 'Easter Eggs' that show how hints of the Easter Story can be found in our every day lives.
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Lent me your ear...
What do you enjoy most about Easter? Perhaps, it is the thought of a long, bank holiday weekend. Maybe the completion of some Lenten challenges. Or the chocolate!
I don鈥檛 know about you, but for me, it doesn鈥檛 seem like five minutes have passed since we were getting ready to celebrate Christmas, and now we are talking about Easter! It always surprises me how quick the shops are to start selling Easter-related food; the shelves are stocked with bright, colourfully wrapped, shiny temptations. As someone who decided to give up ultra-processed foods for Lent this year, trying to avoid those lovely, enticing creations on the shelves of food businesses has been difficult鈥nd not always achieved.
The imagery and promotion of Easter often involves eggs, lambs, chicks and rabbits but what do these have to do with Easter? The giving and receiving of eggs symbolise new life. For Christians, this is very meaningful as it represents the crucifixion, death and miraculous resurrection of Jesus, the sacrifice that was made and the offer of new life it brought. Because of this, Jesus is often referred to as the 鈥榮acrificial lamb鈥� or 鈥榣amb of God鈥� because of the sacrifice made to take away the sins of the world. Consuming lamb is said to be a way Christians can point to God and remember His gift to us.
Easter in Trading Standards
In the world of Trading Standards, we impact Easter in subtle but important ways. Whilst not as commercialised as Christmas, the demand for lamb increases at this time of year and it can be important that the consumer has confidence that they have purchased lamb, particularly if the purchase reflects their faith. It is hard to tell for the consumer and officers alike, so scrutiny is often needed to ensure that the consumer is getting what they pay for, and that cheaper meat is not being substituted, enabling the unscrupulous business profit from a potential misrepresentation and fraud. 听
Trading Standards ensures that Easter related items, such as decorative Easter trees, decorative eggs, egg hunt baskets, costumes, gifts and crafts are all labelled correctly, met legal composition requirements and pose no safety risks to those who will end up using them. With these being seasonal items, the opportunity to deal with any issues arising can be quite short, but nonetheless impactful. When I was a Trading Standards Officer, a colleague and I inspected an independent retailer. They were a new business, and we needed to ascertain what they were doing, what they were selling and how. Amongst some of the food and drink, and general gifts items sold, were some decorative magnets.
These magnets were, in a way, almost works of art. The attention to detail was incredible and they were very eye catching. They were also imitating Easter food treats and posed a risk of death or injury if swallowed. Indeed, the officer who purchased them thought they were actual Easter-related sweet treats on first glance! On examination, the Public Analyst confirmed that the products did not comply with the Food Imitations (Safety) Regulations 1989 and the items had to be taken off sale. The business was not happy but did, eventually, comply.
Sometimes, the work of Trading Standards means doing what is right and not necessarily what is popular. We do it because we care; we care about doing the right thing, for the right reasons and in the right way. We care about fairness, safety and justice; we don鈥檛 want to see physical or financial harm to individuals, animals or businesses. We are in this profession because we love what we do, and we do what we love.
Easter egg hunt
The story of Easter is also one of love. The sacrifice of Jesus, the offer of a new start, new life and new beginnings is a powerful one. It is one that Christians believe was the ultimate act of sacrificial love, laying down one鈥檚 life for one鈥檚 friends.
Whilst we may be reasonably familiar with the Easter story, there are some 鈥淓aster Eggs鈥� (see what I did there? 馃槈) still around today that link back to the first Eastertide. First up, is the humble donkey. The Bible details Jesus鈥� entry into Jerusalem before His death on Palm Sunday, as arriving on a donkey. This replicates the Christmas story, when Mary rode into Bethlehem on a donkey.
Whilst not stated in the Bible, legend tell us that the donkey species was marked with a cross to remind us of the loyalty and service of a donkey. Next time you see a donkey, have a look and see if you can see the cross mark across its withers (the shoulder blades) and down it鈥檚 back.
The second is seen in the goldfinch. These brightly coloured, beautiful garden birds are said to signify the resurrection and new life due to their vibrancy of colour, especially the yellow, which is the colour often associated with new life and new beginnings. Further, legend states when Jesus was carrying His cross, a goldfinch was so distressed to see the suffering of Jesus that it plucked a thorn from the crown on His head as act of love, to do what it could to help alleviate some of Jesus鈥� suffering. 听
In doing so, the bird's face was stained red with a drop of Jesus鈥� blood, which is why you can see the scarlet streak on the face of these birds today. The Avian Influenza outbreak of a few years ago saw a drop in the birds which visited my garden, including the goldfinch. It has taken a couple of years, but they returned to the garden this spring, with their gold and scarlet flashes of colour reminding me of the beauty of creation and the blessing of new life and renewal.
So, my challenge for you this Eastertide is to have a look around and see the beauty of new life and renewal springing up around you, and if you can spot the two 鈥淓aster eggs鈥� mentioned here as you do. Happy Easter!
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CONTRIBUTOR:听 Jessica Merryfield, Head of Policy and Campaigns at 51黑料 (read her bio here).
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