Frozen berries: calls for action on country of origin labelling

In the fallout from the frozen berry recall, a chorus of voices from politics, industry and consumer groups has urged the federal government to act on new food labelling laws.

The Greens were already pushing for reform of food labelling laws, and had introduced a food labelling Bill last week, before news of the recall broke. They say the tainted berries crisis highlights the urgency of introducing new laws on country of origin labelling.

“We have people being diagnosed with Hepatitis A from eating contaminated imported food and we have people saying they don’t know how to tell if they’re buying Australian food. Let’s fix the system,” said Greens Leader Christine Milne.

“Let’s get this new labelling system up and running and get rid of the silly ‘local and imported ingredients’ label, which means nothing.”

The new law proposed by the Greens would simplify labels to three possible claims: ‘Product of Australia’, which tells you where the ingredients are from; ‘Manufactured in Australia’, which tells you where the food was manufactured; and ‘Packaged in Australia’, which says that the product has not been grown or manufactured here.

The Australian Made Campaign, the not-for-profit organisation that administers and promotes Australia’s registered country of origin certification trade mark, welcomed the renewed focus on country of origin labelling in parliament, but stopped short of endorsing the Greens’ Bill.

“While we welcome the reintroduction of this Bill, the government is yet to announce its decisions on the food labelling enquiry undertaken last year by the House of Representatives Senate Committee on Agriculture and Industry. It would make sense to complete that review before commencing yet another one,” Australian Made Campaign Chief Executive Ian Harrison said.

“The proposal to label food in such a way that highlights significant ingredients - ‘Made in Australia from Australian milk’ for chocolate, for example - as long as all requirements for a ‘Made in Australia’ claim are met, makes good sense …” Harrison said.

“We still cannot, however, support the Bill in its current form. We do not see the value in banning the claims ‘Australian Made’ or ‘Made in Australia’ for food products in favour of the equivalent terms ‘Australian Manufactured’ or ‘Manufactured in Australia’.”

Harrison said that a continual point of confusion for consumers was the use of qualified claims such as ‘Made in Australia from imported and local ingredients’. The Australian Made Campaign opposes the use of qualified claims unless the product satisfies the full ‘Made in’ test.

Meanwhile, consumer organisation CHOICE is also calling on the federal government to take action on country of origin food labelling following the national recall of frozen mixed berries, but stressed the need for consumer testing of proposed new labels, to avoid merely replacing one set of confusing terms with another.

“Australians should be able to make informed choices about the food they eat. We are renewing our call for simplification of country of origin labelling. It’s time to give consumers the information they want, remove the information they don’t, and test the way we label our food to make sure it’s meaningful,” said CHOICE spokesperson Tom Godfrey.

“Our research shows many consumers are passionate about where their food is grown, and where it is manufactured, but are confused about current labelling requirements.”

CHOICE’s preliminary recommendations align with the Greens’ proposed laws; however, they have called for consumer testing of any changes to ensure they are meaningful, after a CHOICE survey of 700 members found only 12% were able to accurately identify the meaning of ‘Made in Australia’.