Compulsory country-of-origin food labelling could become mandatory for all meat, poultry, dairy products and other single-ingredient products sold in the EU after it was accepted by the European Parliament yesterday. In a first vote on new EU regulation on food labels, the Parliament rejected proposals from left-wing groups to impose a traffic-light system on labels to indicate high, medium or low levels of salt, sugar and fat. The Parliament did, however, support a proposal that fat, saturates,... ...Read more »

A Local Court decision will see Australia’s largest manufacturer of smallgoods, Primo Pty Ltd, fined a total of $433,325 for mislabelling Danish and Canadian bacon as Australian-made. Primo plead guilty in March to 63 charges under the NSW Food Act 2003, including 45 charges of misleading or deceptive conduct, the rest relating to traceability. “This is the largest fine ever imposed in NSW in relation to food labelling and an excellent result given the scope and seriousness of the charges... ...Read more »

New research from UK’s food watchdog has discovered that country of origin labelling is not particularly important to shoppers but confusion reigns as to the meaning of the term. The Food Standards Agency commissioned a study to ascertain more about how people understand and use food labels, including ‘country of origin’ labels, with the multi-faceted research finding that there is awareness of ‘origin labelling’, but it is not a main concern for consumers when shopping.... ...Read more »

UK retailer Marks and Spencer is to begin clearly labelling dairy products with their country of origin from January. The retailer claimed that it will become the first major chain in the UK to clearly state the source of all its dairy produce. The company already includes country-of-origin labelling for fresh fish and meat. The policy means that all the fresh dairy products sold in M&S stores including milk, butter, cheese, cream, ice-cream and cream, and crème fraiche will be labelled with... ...Read more »

The European Union is looking into possible ways to improve communication about the qualities of agricultural products and reconnect farmers with consumers. The region is also trying to enhance food quality labelling schemes to make it easier for people to use and understand. “The EU’s agri-food sector has a well-deserved reputation for high quality thanks to decades, even centuries, of commitment to excellence,” said Mariann Fischer Boel, Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural... ...Read more »

The Federal Government is planning to introduce a “Grown in Australia” label for packaged food but progress is stalling due to the number of people involved in the process, Agriculture Minister Tony Burke has advised. “In terms of the labelling issue, I’ll say at the start that I think all of these processes on labelling move way too slowly. There’s so many ministers involved, so many different levels of government involved,” he told Adelaide’s 5AA radio... ...Read more »

British Environment Secretary Hilary Benn has called on supermarkets and food companies to give shoppers clearer information on where their food comes from.He made the call as he urged people to buy more local produce and stressed that protecting the environment is vital to increasing food production. “When you buy a car you know its service history. When you buy a house you get a detailed survey. So why do we accept knowing so much less about what we are putting into our bodies?” Mr... ...Read more »

Consumers are demanding clearer labelling of key information, including that of country of origin, and are even willing to pay more to get it, according to research by Deloitte. Consumers are aware that this request for further transparency may cost them more at the register, with 73 per cent indicating they would still want country of origin labeling even if it caused the prices of foods to increase slightly. The survey of 1,110 American consumers found that more than two out of five consumers feel... ...Read more »

The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) is calling for Country of Origin labelling to be strengthened as the Senate Inquiry into Meat Marketing in Australia continues. Country of Origin labelling is a concept which has already been witnessed in the seafood industry but other the meat industry has not been subject to similar laws. As a result the Senate initiated an inquiry by the Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport into meat marketing in March this year. The inquiry particularly... ...Read more »