Food labelling keeps consumers in dark, survey suggests

Sue Kedgley

A survey of food labelling suggests consumers are not being given sufficient information on what they are eating.

Genetically-engineered ingredients in foods were not labelled, while people could be buying meat not realising it was imported.

The Green Party, which looked at 453 products in the survey, said the results highlighted the need for a better labelling system.

It investigated 196 products made by companies which had no stated policy of avoiding genetically-engineered ingredients.

It said 75 per cent of these products could contain GE ingredients as the labels listed genetically-engineered materials New Zealand had approved for use in food -- such as canola, soy, maize and derivatives of these.

None of these products were labelled to say they were GE-free or contained or could contain GE.

The Green Party also looked at whether meats were labelled to say where these had been produced.

Of the 101 lamb, pork, bacon and beef products it assessed, 30 had country of origin labelling.

Green MP Sue Kedgley said: "We import thousands of tonnes of meat into New Zealand each year yet we couldn't find one label indicating it contained imported meat."

Last year, 27,000 tonnes of pork were imported into New Zealand but there was no way of knowing where it all went, Ms Kedgley said. Consumers would buy meat believing it was from New Zealand if there was no labelling on it to say it was not.

The party also looked at the method of production for 16 brands eggs and found six brands did not state the method, six were labelled free range and four as barn laid.

The method of fishing was rarely stated on fish products.

"Consumers rely on labels to inform them what is in the food they eat and where it comes from," Ms Kedgley said.

"But our survey found that food labels conceal vital information from consumers. They don't tell us whether our food contains GE ingredients and most don't identify clearly where it comes from or how it's been produced."

She has drafted a member's bill that would required food producers to say where their products had come from, whether these contained GE ingredients, how eggs had been produced and whether fish was caught in the wild or farmed.

It would also make the New Zealand Food Safety Authority stipulate which foods had been found to be tainted with contaminants.

- NZPA