Scottish publicans could be forgiven for a certain level of paranoia when it comes to the powers-that-be trying out big ideas on them.
Having already served as a testing ground for the impact of the smoking ban, Scottish pubs are to be guinea pigs again - this time on the thorny issue of menu transparency. Last month the Scottish Executive unveiled plans that require pubs - as well as restaurants, hotels and other catering establishments - to tell customers which country their beef comes from.
The move follows intense lobbying by the Scottish beef industry, as well as growing consumer concern highlighted in a series of surveys about the provenance of beef. The reputation of Scotch beef came through the BSE crisis more or less intact. Clear evidence of this comes from the fact that so many menus highlight the use of Aberdeen Angus beef in everything from burgers to steaks.
However, any assumption by consumers that this automatically means the cattle in question spent their lives roaming the Highlands, chewing on thistles and drinking pure loch water would be misplaced. Aberdeen Angus is a breed, not a postal address.
DK Maclean, head chef at the Seaforth Inn in Ross-shire, current holder of The Publican's Pub Food Awards Pub of the Year title, explains: "A herd has to be certified by the Aberdeen Angus Society, but that herd can be anywhere, from Ireland to Argentina."
It was this that prompted Scottish food minister Ross Finnie to act. Announcing the plan to bring country-of-origin labelling requirements into the catering sector, he said: "Scotland is world renowned for its beef. With consumers having an increasing interest in where their food comes from, many are frankly staggered to find out that Aberdeen Angus beef can come from South America.
"Retailers and wholesalers already provide information on the country of origin of beef. In extending the requirement to the foodservice sector, consumers who want to eat British will have the information to do so."
All well and good, you might think. Why shouldn't consumers have the right to know where the meat on their plate comes from? However, like all good politicians, Finnie launched a consultation on his plans before going ahead, and the trade was, to say the least, pretty lukewarm on the idea.
The British Hospitality Association (BHA) said it was strongly opposed to legislation, criticising the Scottish Executive for trying to 'gold plate' existing EC beef labelling regulations, which apply to raw but not cooked beef. Instead, the BHA urged more support for voluntary 'best practice' schemes, such as those developed by Quality Meat Scotland and VisitScotland, which encourage businesses to use country-of-origin labelling of beef on menus as a marketing initiative.
Whitbread, operator of the Beefeater and Brewers Fayre chains, responded that it wouldbe a little odd to require the foodservice sector to single out beef from other foods when providing country-of-origin information. The company also believed that issues such as quality, presentation and service are higher up consumers' list of priorities than origin. There are still plenty of 'i's to be dotted and 't's to be crossed before the regulations are introduced, and the Executive has promised to work with the trade to ensure the new rules are implemented smoothly.
However, there are others who believe operators are squeaking a little too loudly. Richard Lowe, consumer affairs director of the Meat & Livestock Commission (MLC), points out that pubs and other restaurant operators are not shy about featuring the origin on menus when it suits them, from Welsh lamb to Scotch beef.
Speaking at a recent MLC symposium on menu transparency, Lowe said: "It's not a great leap of imagination to assume that the pub groups perceive that they would be at a commercial disadvantage if they identified the source of some of the meat on the menu." In other words, consumers might be concerned to learn that the chicken in their Cajun chicken wrap had travelled a lot further than just across the road.
Back at the Seaforth - which has a menu showing full traceability of beef from Scottish herds - Maclean says: "I think it's something that will be welcomed by consumers. For us, particularly with our Sunday carvery, it's certainly become more of an issue over the past couple of years in the wake of BSE. People want to know."