It strikes me as a bit odd that while imported good as such as toys, clothing, shoes, whiteware and toiletry products have to have a country of origin stated on the pack the food, which we put in our mouth, does not. Check out any presumably New Zealand made product in your pantry and chances are that you will see written: ‘Made in New Zealand from local and imported products’.
There is no indication what these imported ingredients made be, whereas, for instance, the pack the cake of soap in your bathroom came in will have a list of all the ingredients.
Last year $63 million of processed fruit and vegetables were imported from China. As an example 711,000 kg of jam and marmalade arrived in large drums – to be packed into jars and so labelled ‘Made New Zealand from local and imported products’ – the jars and labels are made in New Zealand but not necessarily the contents. There is no guarantee that these imported fruits and vegetables have been produced in stainless steel kitchens tended by white coated people.
Ongoing problems are regularly reported in overseas food processing plants and concerns frequently arise about the over use of pesticides in these countries (recently imported zucchinis were found to have twice the maximum allowed pesticide residue).
Manufactures are looking for the cheapest product they can find. In many cases, such as the jam, countries without crop spraying or factory hygiene regulations, combined with low wages can undercut local producers.
And for the sake of a few less cents we use overseas funds, which we do not have, to import food which we can actually produce, in better quality, right here in New Zealand.
It seems logical to require detailed product origin information on food as is required on other products. The Food Safety Authority’s explanation as to why this is not required is that it would make it more difficult to argue for reduced trade barriers with other countries. Given it’s ‘Food Safety’ title a rather ironic stance. Progressive Enterprises, the Australian owners of Woolworths and Countdown say that such a requirement would add 20cents to each product. However Horticulture New Zealand, which represents New Zealand growers, estimate that it would be nearer one cent. It is interesting to note that Progressive Enterprises source much of it’s product from overseas.
A quick check of supermarket shelves show that some manufacturers are very specific about their ingredients being locally grown. Watties, for instance, have ‘Grown inBay of Plenty (or Hawkes Bay)’. Whereas cheaper ‘house brands’ use the vague ‘local and imported products’ label. However all brands of the humble Baked Beans carry the vague listing. Opening the probability of the beans being imported are genetically modified. The problem is spread all through the supermarket; condiments and prepared foods etc.
I sure would like to know whether the food I’m about to purchase was grown and processed overseas or locally. How about you?
Mike Beckett
