KEY POINTS:
Bowing to increasing public pressure, all fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and seafood sold in Pak'n'Save and New World supermarkets is to be labelled with the country of origin.
Foodstuffs, which owns the supermarkets, said the company had made the decision in response to increased consumer interest about the origin of food as a result of recent international food scares.
A nationwide petition launched last week by the Green Party calling for mandatory country of origin labelling was not a factor in the move, she said.
"There's been a huge amount of public interest in this, and we've heard what people are saying. We want to be able to assist our customers to make better-informed decisions when they shop in our stores," said Foodstuffs (NZ) executive manager Melissa Hodd.
Foodstuffs, which also operates Write Price and Shoprite supermarkets, hoped to have the policy fully implemented by December.
Ms Hodd said it already knew where its produce came from, but it would take time to get new systems in place.
The labelling would only apply to fresh foods which comprised one single ingredient. "Processed food, involving more than one ingredient, is much more complex and it would be difficult and expensive to produce labels for this."
She said country of origin labelling was not a matter of food safety but simply about providing more information for customers about where their produce came from.
"We operate extremely stringent food safety standards and already go above and beyond the current legal requirements," she said.
Green Party Safe Food Spokesperson Sue Kedgley said: "It is great that our largest, New Zealand-owned supermarket has listened to consumers and has responded to their call.
"By taking this initiative, they have thrown down the gauntlet to their competitors to follow suit."
However, she said legislation forcing retailers to follow suit was required as a voluntary system would be "uneven".
- NZPA, NZ HERALD STAFF
