Source country missing in food labelling reforms

Food labelling.

Companies selling food products in Australia will not be required to disclose the source of foreign ingredients under a proposed shake-up to labelling rules.

The changes will instead mean customers will be granted a better understanding of how “Australian” some of their favourite foods are.

The overhaul follows a hepatitis scare this year linked to ­frozen berries imported from China.

That led the government to establish a review of labelling rules, changes unveiled ­yester­day by Tony Abbott, Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce and Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane.

“It’s really a very simple and straightforward initiative which is designed to ensure that people right around the world know that what they are buying is ­Australian,” the Prime Minister said. “This really is important and this is something that the Australian public have wanted for a long time.”

The presence of an “Australian Made” triangular logo ­featuring a green-and-gold kangaroo will be used to indicate if a product is made or processed at home.

A gold bar or “ruler” below the logo will show what proportion of local ingredients has been used. The shade of the ruler will ­indicate the presence of no local ingredients or that they make up less than 25 per cent, more than 50 per cent, more than 75 per cent or 100 per cent of the final product.

Concern was expressed yesterday about businesses having the final say over whether to ­disclose the original location of foreign ingredients. Consumer group Choice warned manufacturers would choose not to.

“For those consumers who want to know where their food comes from they will still be left wondering which of the 195 countries from around the world their dinner comes from,” Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey told The Australian.

If such a disclosure is made, it will appear below the “Australian Made” logo.

Any disclosure would appear in clear text and say, for example, “Made in Australia from Australian and French peas” or “Made in Australia from Canadian pork”. How much of the product was French or Canadian would be conveyed to consumers by the shade of gold on the ruler.

Other labelling options proposed by the government would indicate whether a product had been “grown in” or “packed in” Australia. However, goods packed in Australia but made elsewhere would be required to identify the country of origin on their packaging.

Such disclosures might say, for example, “Packed in Australia, Made in Canada” or “Packed in Australia, Grown in France”.

Mr Abbott said the cost to Australian businesses was estimated at $37 million a year while Mr Joyce said flow-on costs for consumers would be an extra 1c  for every $5 spent.