A new video released by AUSVEG argues Australia’s current food labelling laws fail to provide consumers with meaningful information about the food they're buying and eating.
The horticulture body, which represents close to 9000 farmers, interviewed everyday Australians to find out how confused they were about labelling rules.
“Consumers are being seriously misled under current laws,” said AUSVEG CEO Richard Mulcahy.
“Overwhelmingly those we interviewed believed the ‘Made In’ Australia label meant products were genuinely from Australia, including ingredients – but that’s actually not the case.”
“Australia’s current system of Country of Origin Labelling (CoOL) on food is failing consumers and it leaves them completely in the dark about where their food is actually coming from.”
As the federal government considers its options for changing Country of Origin labelling rules, AUSVEG is asking Australians to express public support for meaningful reforms using the twitter hashtag #coolchange – or call or write to their local federal member of parliament.
“Now more than ever, consumers want clear Country of Origin Labelling on the food they buy,” said Mulcahy.
“Reform to Australia's CoOL system is long overdue, and now is the time to make strong, lasting improvements to the system that will explain where a product has been manufactured and where the main ingredients are from.”
“When presented with everyday grocery items like teabags or pasta sauce, an overwhelming proportion of the shoppers we spoke to felt the products’ packaging was confusing, and shoppers felt some products were deliberately misleading.
“The Federal cabinet will be considering CoOL reform in August, and AUSVEG has already put forward a set of proposals for a clearer system which protects consumer rights, and provides further information about where the characterising ingredients have been sourced.
“There is a clear disconnect between what consumers want to know and the jargon they're fed by packaging. Under our current system, some food manufacturers are able to pull the wool over consumers’ eyes by using ambiguous and misleading claims to obscure the actual origin of ingredients.”
AUSVEG has encouraged Australian consumers to provide input on the labelling changes here.
You can watch the new video here:
