Benn made the call as he urged people to "buy more British and eat more British" and stressed that protecting the environment is vital to increasing food production.
Speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference, Benn said: "When you buy a car you know its service history. When you buy a house you get a detailed survey. So why do we accept knowing so much less about what we are putting into our bodies?
Pork labelling
"Under current European regulations, a pork pie processed in Britain from Danish pork can legitimately be labelled as a British pie. That's a nonsense and it needs to change."
He said that while the Government was pressing in Europe to improve labelling so that it shows where an animal is born, reared and slaughtered, he planned to meet food industry representatives to discuss how they could "get ahead here by voluntarily introducing country of origin labelling."
Benn praised the quality and quantity of food produced by British farmers and said that food security was a priority. He pledged to continue supporting farmers through better regulation and doing "only so much as is necessary".
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