How Australian is 'Australian Made'?

It was clearly labelled “ Aussie Beer” complete with a map of Australia and green and gold colours… yet it was brewed in China.

Or the ‘just caught prawn meat’, again with an Aussie map and flag, which while caught locally was actually processed and packaged in Thailand.

Such are the half-truths, and sometimes outright deceptions, which have copped fines recently from the genuinely true blue Australia Competition and Consumer Commission.

So while memories of our national day are still warm here’s a quick guide of how to decipher some of the porkies and small print around sneaky country of origin labels for food and drink.

And the good news is that soon they’ll be much better labels with more graphic information and reliable logos, complete with a kangaroo, to help you decide.

The problem in part has arisen as globalisation has given us access to once exotic foodstuffs from all over the world. Generally this is good and last week I even found frozen avocado from Peru in the supermarket.

But it can leave a sour taste in our mouths when merchants seek to exploit our desire to buy local with confusing descriptions.

Claims such as made in, grown in or product of Australia might imply the obvious to most of us but they have specific and differing definitions.

For example ‘Product of’, which usually applies to processed foods, if attached to something like smoked salmon means the fish was both caught and smoked in Australia.

If ‘Grown in Australia’ is attached to a piece of fruit it means just that in Oz not anywhere else.  These two descriptions are for now the simplest way to buy Australian.

With the term ‘Made in’, things get a bit more complex.   The ACCC says it means the food must have been manufactured, and not just packed in Australia, and at least 50% of the costs of processing must have been incurred in this country.

The ingredients might not even have come from Australia. The ACCC gives the example of jam. More than half the cost of making it might have been paid here but the fruit and/or sugar could have come from elsewhere.

The label which drives many consumers batty is ‘Made in Australia from local and imported ingredients’ which can mean anything and reveal nothing.

In part things are going to get better. Last July the federal government released the designs for new country-of-origin labels, which will specify the percentage of Australian produce in any foodstuff.

But there’s still no requirement to spell out where all of the key ingredients might be sourced from if they are not from Australia. CHOICE gives the example of ice cream. The dairy products might be proudly Australian and the consumer is left in the dark as to where the berries within might come from

Check out the new look labels and see if they will make your shopping any easier. People chose to buy Australian, which can sometimes but not always cost a bit more, for many reasons such as taste, purity even loyalty.

Whatever the reason the consumer has to have confidence in the product and that it comes from where they have good reason to believe it comes from. Aussie Beer, flags, maps all indicate a provenance of Australia. You shouldn’t have the read the fine print at the back of the pack to be sure.

PS

Some foods and other products claim to be ‘proudly Australian owned’ or ‘100% Aussie owned’. It might tell you about who the brand belongs to but doesn’t mean a thing as to where the product was made or where it’s ingredients/components came from.