Wednesday, 23 June 1999
What's in meat pies? ... jams? ... ice creams?...
Move to make food labels easier to understand
Consumers in Australia and New Zealand will know how much meat is in their meat pie, fruit in their jam, or milk fat in their ice cream if a new percentage labelling proposal from the Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) gets the go-ahead.
Releasing the proposal today for public discussion, Managing Director,
Mr Ian Lindenmayer, said the proposal aimed to give consumers more information so they could make better shopping choices.
Under the proposed system, the percentages of key ingredients used in foods would have to be spelt out on food labels.
'There would be many advantages for consumers in having percentage labelling introduced,' Mr Lindenmayer said.
'Consumers would be able to pick up products in the supermarkets and compare them for quality or value for money using percentage labelling as a guide.
'If, for example, you like meat pies with lots of meat, you'd be able to go into a supermarket, read the packaging, and get the one with the most meat in it.
'If you wanted less meat and more vegetables in your pie, again you would have the information you need to make that choice.
'The label would list the percentage of meat and vegetables used in the pie along with the usual listings of other ingredients.
'You might want to buy jam with lots of fruit—again, percentage labelling would help you know exactly how much fruit is inside the jar.'
'Ice cream is another good example,' Mr Lindenmayer said. 'Currently, there are lots of products in supermarket freezers, ranging from ones rich in milk fat, to reduced fat ice creams and ice confection.'
'If this proposal comes into place, consumers would be able to compare labels and buy the ice cream which best suits their tastes or dietary needs,' he said.
President of the Dietitians Association of Australia, Dr Sandra Capra, said today that dietitians supported the ANZFA proposal for percentage labelling and welcomed ANZFA's efforts to consult with the community on this and other issues.
'Percentage labelling is a way of helping consumers make informed choices, allowing them to understand more about what they eat,' Dr Capra said. 'I encourage all consumers to have their say on this issue.'
ANZFA is also suggesting that food labels have the percentages of ingredients spelt out where the ingredient appears in the name of the food, eg. strawberry yoghurt would have to list on the label the percentage of strawberries in the yoghurt. Foods would continue to be listed in weight order.
Percentage labelling would also be used when products have pictures or graphics depicting food on their packaging, eg chocolate with pictures of nuts would have to have the percentage of nuts spelt out on the label.
'We're keen to know whether consumers, industry, and other organisations want percentage labelling,' Mr Lindenmayer said.
ANZFA develops and reviews food standards through a statutory process involving two rounds of public consultation. Percentage labelling is at the first round of public consultation. The final decision on percentage labelling will be made by the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council which comprises of Australian and New Zealand Health Ministers.
Written submissions should be sent to the Project Manager—Proposal P207 at the following addresses. The percentage labelling proposal is available by contacting the Information Officer at the addresses below or from the ANZFA website
ANZFA | ANZFA |
PO Box 7186 | PO Box 10559 |
Canberra Business Centre ACT 2610 | The Terrace, Wellington 6036 |
Australia | New Zealand |
Tel: (02) 6271 2222 | Tel: (04) 473 9942 |
Fax: (02) 6271 2278 | Fax: (04) 473 9855 |