Bringing Home The Bacon

Posted by Josette Dunn on 15th March 2010

This week (March 15-21) is Australia’s first ever Bacon Week, a new initiative launched by the pork industry producer’s body, Australian Pork Limited (APL) to highlight the pink square Australian PorkMark – the only guaranteed way you can choose 100 per cent home grown and manufactured bacon.

The theme for inaugural Bacon Week is “Bringing Home the Bacon”. This theme is designed to highlight the fact that the majority of pork used to make bacon sold in Australia was created on the other side of the world.

This initiative came about because Australia’s pork industry continues to face huge challenges from the massive amounts of frozen pork landing in Australia from highly subsidised agricultural countries like Denmark, Canada and the United States. 70 per cent of bacon, ham and smallgoods products bought in Australia are made from overseas subsidised pork.

More than $10 million worth of pork imports arrives in Australia every week. That’s over half a billion dollars heading offshore per year.

APL CEO Andrew Spencer says: “Traditional Australian grocery labeling laws are vague. Commonly used terms such as ‘Made in Australia’ can be used on products that can contain imported meat. This becomes very confusing for consumers. The pink Australian PorkMark is your guarantee of Australian origin.

“To date we have one hundred and twenty one butchers and smallgoods manufacturers Australia wide that are licensed to display the PorkMark logo on their products, which are the finest smallgoods available in Australia.

As part of Bacon Week, APL are announcing the winners of Australia’s best bacon. The Awards For Excellence bacon competition was open to butchers and smallgoods processors who make bacon from 100 per cent Australian pork.

There were 62 different bacons from 45 manufacturers around the country that were tasted and judged, in two categories, full rasher and low fat – the most consumed types of bacon.

The judges were two chefs with broad international experience including working in Michelin starred restaurants, cruise liners and premier teaching institutions, and a Fleischmeister with a Masters degree in Butchering and Smallgoods from the Master College in Monchen Gladbach Germany.

Each entry was judged on the curing process, aroma, texture, taste and shrinkage when cooked. The essential criterion in this competition was that the pork had to be sourced from Australian grown pigmeat.

And the winners are….

Over All