Kevin Tiller

I was pretty annoyed with the recent recall of frozen berries that had caused Hep A in some people. I had the berries and out of our family it’s mainly me that uses them in my breakfast. I took them back to Woolworths and got my money back. I guess what annoys me is that I suppose I knew that something is fishy about the whole situation – let me explain: fresh raspberries are about $4 for a 100g punnet making it approx $40 per kg. So when someone sells them at $9 per kg then you just know it’s going to be cheap and nasty. Anyway, I have decided not to buy them anymore and the idea of getting cheap raspberries from China, you kinda know you are not buying the good stuff. I will just buy either Australian and/or Organic and wear the extra cost. As it turns out reasonably local (NSW) raspberries about $15 per kg. Maybe I am just annoyed at myself thinking I am getting a great – but we can all remember this : You get what you pay for.

Refer article in the SMH:

Patties Foods maintained samples of the berry products were tested four times using Australian food standards and they have also been working with the FSANZ to keep the public informed of their investigations.

Its chief executive Steven Chaur said there was still no “firm association [of hepatitis A] with our recalled products”.

“Many Chinese food production facilities also supply European and Japanese food markets, and they also have extremely strict hygiene and quality standards,” he said in a press release.

“Despite public misconceptions, many Chinese food production facilities are at least as hygienic as those in Australia and operate to similar regulatory compliance regimes.”

The outbreak has highlighted concerns about country-of-origin labelling on food.

Consumer group Choice has tested 55 packs of frozen mixed fruits and mixed vegetables and found nearly half the labels on the packs had “vague” or “unhelpful” information.

Choice said some of the worst claims included “Packed in New Zealand”, “Packed in Chile from imported and local ingredients” and “Processed in Belgium”.

It also found 12 per cent of its 700 members were not able to understand the meaning of “Made in Australia”.

“These claims offer very little information about a product’s origin and are largely meaningless to consumers,” Choice spokesman Tom Godfrey said.

“Consumers deserve to know where their food comes from which is why we have launched a petition calling on the Minister for Agriculture, Barnaby Joyce, to take action on country of origin labelling.”

Mr Joyce has supported changes to the country-of-origin labelling laws to stop manufacturers from using “sneaky terms” to “earn a premium” on cheaply made products.

Under current laws, the term “made from Australian and imported ingredients” is common, providing no detail on the exact origins of all the ingredients in a product or where it was packaged.

“There is a good way that you can avoid all of this and that is to make sure you eat Australian product,” Mr Joyce said on Wednesday.

“I want to make sure I do everything in my power to say to people your safest food is your domestic food. That is why you pay a premium for Australian product. It is clean, green and healthy.”

Mr Joyce’s spokesman confirmed a white paper on the potential legislation changes is due to go before the cabinet.