KEY POINTS:
Do you have any idea what percentage of our supermarket goods are imported foods?
The vast majority of whole sourced fresh food products sold in Foodtown, Woolworths and Countdown stores is New Zealand sourced. For example over the past 12 months our stores have sold: 100 per cent NZ fresh whole sourced chicken, 100 per cent NZ fresh whole sourced seafood, 98 per cent NZ fresh whole sourced meat, and 78 per cent NZ fresh whole sourced fruit and vegetables. Progressive Enterprises Limited has also had in place for sometime a proactive best practice policy of labelling the country of origin on all imported fresh fruit and vegetables. We will also look to work with our suppliers to implement this for any imported whole sourced fresh seafood and meat.
- Brett Ashley, General Manager Fresh Food, Progressive Enterprises
Other than contacting the manufacturer, is there any way of finding out where an imported product, or imported ingredients in a product, have come from?
It is very difficult for food manufacturers to include on a label the country of origin of every ingredient in the food. This is because the same ingredient can be sourced from many different countries, and even if a manu- facturer has a one sourceof supply, this can frequently change because of seasonality, droughts, floods and shortages due to high demand and thus other sources have to be quickly found. The main way this information can be obtained is to call the manufacturer as they keep traceability records of the source of all their ingredients. It is mainly since the difficulties of products sourced from China that country of origin labelling has attracted considerable media attention. It is not information that the majority of consumers seek. A large proportion of consumers buy on price and many other consumers do not request this information.
- Brenda Cutress, executive director, NZ Food & Grocery Council
Do you think the most recent publicity about food labelling will encourage producers to say more clearly when a product is from NZ?
Yes, it ought to. As long as labelling is voluntary, producers will be encouraged to put on labels that they think will benefit their business but not necessarily if it won't benefit, and a label saying New Zealand should be a boon to food producers.
- Sue Kedgley, Green Party Safe Food spokeswoman
How strict are the regulations on foods coming into the country? How much testing is done? Are more stringent standards needed?
New Zealand food is one of the safest in the world (I appreciate this is not always the views of some "concerned" consumers). In addition to the rigorous Food Safety and Food Standard Regulations, the manufacturing companies that the Food & Grocery Council represent maintain rigorous and robust audits of all the ingredients they use and they ensure they meet high standards for safety. They must also maintain traceability records of all ingredients that are used. It is always useful to remind consumers that good food handling in the home is one of the most important things they can do to ensure food safety.
- Brenda Cutress
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