Food labeling hypocrisy

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By Les Watkins

Consumers are told more about their footwear than about their food. And that is just stupid.Les Watkins

My favourite shoes, a flexible redleather pair, were made in India. I know because the information is printed inside them.

But some of those vegetables I enjoyed last night…where the devil did they come from? Toowoomba perhaps? Or maybe Texas or Toronto or possibly Timbuktu? Your guess is as good as mine.

The truth about where much of our food originates is kept hidden and that is totally unfair on consumers as well as on up-front manufacturers.

Does the stuff on offer at supermarkets come from the Bay of Plenty or the market gardens of South Auckland? Or was it harvested in countries such as China or Vietnam?

All too often we’re not allowed to know because our idiotic policy on labeling makes that a secret. Few people realise, for instance, that just one brand of frozen vegetables on sale here contains only vegetables grown in New Zealand.

That brand is Talleys. Their competing companies – excellent though they may be – are not required to mention that they use vegetables imported from a range of countries including Ecuador, Thailand, Chile and America.

Blandly-worded labels merely state that this food is ‘packed in New Zealand from local and imported ingredients’.

OK. But what is imported? How much of it is? And from where?

Sorry, that’s apparently considered not our business.

We can only assume that the authorities are reluctant to risk upsetting anyone – including the New Zealand companies and the overseas sellers – but they should remember that at least 75 percent of customers would prefer their food to originate in New Zealand.

That’s been confirmed by several surveys. I’m not suggesting anything is wrong with the imported vegetables. But why are consumers denied the right to make their own choices?

Stores are obliged to let us know the country of origin of goods such as our clothes or shoes.

But origin information about food is voluntary. And that, as I indicated earlier, is totally daft.

The government should stop pussyfooting around on this issue. Comprehensive labeling of food should be mandatory.

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