Labels wrongly claimed NZ bacon - Commission

Two local bacon companies have been ordered by the Commerce Commission to come up with new labels after their existing ones were found to be misleading.

Green Party MP Sue Kedgley laid complaints with the commission in April over the labelling of Kiwi and Premier bacon on the grounds they attempted to portray their products as local despite using significant amounts of imported pork.

Ms Kedgley today said her complaints had been upheld and the commission had ordered the companies to relabel their products.

She said Kiwi's claim that it was the "Taste of New Zealand" and Premier's claim on some of its products that it was "country goodness from the heart of Wairarapa" were misleading when they both contained imported pork.

"Many consumers want to buy products that are made with New Zealand ingredients and would have bought these products because they believed they were made with local rather than imported pork," she said.

"Consumers rely on information on labels to make informed decisions and it's important that labels are accurate and truthful."

Ms Kedgley showed the cases showed why it was important to have mandatory country of origin labelling on food.

- NZPA