Country of Origin campaign launched
Thursday 2 August 2007, 4:46PM
By Green Party
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Where did it come from? Credit:
Green Party
The Green Party is today kicking off a nationwide campaign calling for mandatory Country of Origin labelling on a range of foods.
The nationwide petition and e-card - launched by Green Party Safe Food spokesperson Sue Kedgley - calls for mandatory country of origin labelling on meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables and other single component foods.* Ms Kedgley is challenging the Minister of Food Safety to explain to New Zealanders why the government is opposed to the consumer's right to know where food we buy comes from.
"This petition is in response to overwhelming consumer concern about the lack of labelling, and potentially unsafe food imported from overseas. People want to know where the food they buy, eat and feed their families comes from.
"Many New Zealanders are unaware that we are now importing nearly 1.5 million tonnes of food a year, including 149,462 tonnes of fruit, 32,207 tonnes of meat, and 39,996 tonnes of vegetables. Many assume meat on sale in New Zealand comes from local farms, and feel deceived when they discover that large amounts of meat is being imported (10,694 tonnes of lamb and beef last year, and 40 percent of all pork last year) and sold without any indication of where it comes from.
"New Zealand is out of step with much of the rest of the world in not having mandatory country of origin labelling," Ms Kedgley says.
"There are a multitude of reasons why New Zealanders want to know where their food comes from. Some people want to support local producers, others like to avoid food from countries with a poor safety record. The Government's opposition to mandatory country of origin labelling is inexplicable. Surely we have a right to know whether we eating an Australian leg of lamb or a New Zealand one - or Chinese or New Zealand garlic?
"Recent international scandals relating to unsafe food from China - from toxic pet food and contaminated seafood to pesticide-laden produce, and children's snack food with illegal levels of additives and sweetener have intensified consumer concern. Yet our Food Safety Authority is not routinely testing imported food to see if it is safe, or whether it contains illegal pesticides or other contaminants," Ms Kedgley says.
"Country of origin labelling is a food safety issue, as well as a consumer right to know issue. If the government won't test imported food to ensure its safety, the least they can do is label it so that consumers can make their own choices.
Ms Kedgley will be travelling round New Zealand with the petition over coming months.
*Single component food means food containing a single product (for example, canned, dried or frozen fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains or any other food) other than water, sugar or its substitutes, salt, or other ingredients used in preserving.
Did You Know?
We import nearly 1.5 million tonnes of food every year from many different countries; in 2006 this included 149,462 tonnes of fruit, 32,207 tonnes of meat, and 39,996 tonnes of vegetables. 20% of the vegetables came from China.
None of it has to be labelled for country of origin, so frequently the consumer cannot tell where the food they are eating comes from. None of it is checked to see whether it contains illegal residues, either, and much of it is fumigated with methyl bromide, a highly toxic and ozone depleting gas.
In 2006, we imported 10,604 tonnes of lamb and beef - most of it was not labelled as to its country of origin. This means that consumers cannot be certain when they buy meat at their local butcher or supermarket whether it is New Zealand raised or imported. We imported 2.4 times as much meat from Australia as we exported to them.
Cheap food imports are wiping out our local growers: last year we imported 1,839 tonnes of cheap inferior garlic from China. This has helped to decimate New Zealand’s once thriving garlic growing industry. Roxdale sun-ripened apricots have succumbed to cheaper cans of green-picked, acid-treated fruit from China, South Africa and Spain.
The Californian Department of Health has issued a warning to consumers not to eat ginger imported from China because it might contain a dangerous pesticide (aldicarb sulfoxide). New Zealand imported 165 tonnes of ginger from China last year.
40% of pig meat on sale in New Zealand is imported (though if you walk around a supermarket with a magnifying glass you won’t find a label telling you where it’s all ended up). About 30% (7,726 tonnes in 2006) comes from Canada; some pig herds in Canada are contaminated with the superbug bacteria MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Pigs in Australia are fed a growth hormone that is not permitted here - last year we imported 10,232 tonnes of pig meat from Australia. Pigs in China have been fed the asthma medication clenbuterol to make them leaner - last year we imported 104 tonnes of preserved pig meat, such as ham, from China.
Shrimps from China have been found to contain carcinogenic antimicrobials nitrofuran, malachite green, and gentian violet, as well as the banned insecticide DDT, and fluoroquinolone, an antibiotic critical to human health, but threatened by antibiotic resistance. As a result of these concerns, the United States has halted five types of farmed fish from China at the border. 25% of our imported shrimps and prawns come from China - 937 tonnes in 2006 - and none of it was tested for residues.
Australian tomatoes are dipped in the toxic insecticide dimethoate but New Zealand tomatoes aren’t. Dimethoate cannot be removed by washing and has been found to disrupt reproductive function, cause chromosomal aberrations, damage the immune system, disrupt the endocrine system and affect the nervous system.
A survey in China found candied fruit with 63 times the permitted amount of sweetener and excessive additives and preservatives in nearly 40% of the children's snacks. Last year New Zealand imported 1 tonne of glazed fruit from China and 6,152 tonnes of other preserved fruit, which may or may not be sweetened.
In April this year the United States rejected 137 shipments of food from China because it was “filthyâ€Â, contained the food poisoning bacteria salmonella, or banned chemicals, etc; but our government does not routinely check imports from China, let alone turn ships away at the border.
That is why we need mandatory Country of Origin labelling:
so we can tell where the food we eat comes from,
support local growers,
and avoid eating food from countries with a poor food safety record.
The nationwide petition and e-card - launched by Green Party Safe Food spokesperson Sue Kedgley - calls for mandatory country of origin labelling on meat, seafood, fruit, vegetables and other single component foods.* Ms Kedgley is challenging the Minister of Food Safety to explain to New Zealanders why the government is opposed to the consumer's right to know where food we buy comes from.
"This petition is in response to overwhelming consumer concern about the lack of labelling, and potentially unsafe food imported from overseas. People want to know where the food they buy, eat and feed their families comes from.
"Many New Zealanders are unaware that we are now importing nearly 1.5 million tonnes of food a year, including 149,462 tonnes of fruit, 32,207 tonnes of meat, and 39,996 tonnes of vegetables. Many assume meat on sale in New Zealand comes from local farms, and feel deceived when they discover that large amounts of meat is being imported (10,694 tonnes of lamb and beef last year, and 40 percent of all pork last year) and sold without any indication of where it comes from.
"New Zealand is out of step with much of the rest of the world in not having mandatory country of origin labelling," Ms Kedgley says.
"There are a multitude of reasons why New Zealanders want to know where their food comes from. Some people want to support local producers, others like to avoid food from countries with a poor safety record. The Government's opposition to mandatory country of origin labelling is inexplicable. Surely we have a right to know whether we eating an Australian leg of lamb or a New Zealand one - or Chinese or New Zealand garlic?
"Recent international scandals relating to unsafe food from China - from toxic pet food and contaminated seafood to pesticide-laden produce, and children's snack food with illegal levels of additives and sweetener have intensified consumer concern. Yet our Food Safety Authority is not routinely testing imported food to see if it is safe, or whether it contains illegal pesticides or other contaminants," Ms Kedgley says.
"Country of origin labelling is a food safety issue, as well as a consumer right to know issue. If the government won't test imported food to ensure its safety, the least they can do is label it so that consumers can make their own choices.
Ms Kedgley will be travelling round New Zealand with the petition over coming months.
*Single component food means food containing a single product (for example, canned, dried or frozen fruit and vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains or any other food) other than water, sugar or its substitutes, salt, or other ingredients used in preserving.
Did You Know?
We import nearly 1.5 million tonnes of food every year from many different countries; in 2006 this included 149,462 tonnes of fruit, 32,207 tonnes of meat, and 39,996 tonnes of vegetables. 20% of the vegetables came from China.
None of it has to be labelled for country of origin, so frequently the consumer cannot tell where the food they are eating comes from. None of it is checked to see whether it contains illegal residues, either, and much of it is fumigated with methyl bromide, a highly toxic and ozone depleting gas.
In 2006, we imported 10,604 tonnes of lamb and beef - most of it was not labelled as to its country of origin. This means that consumers cannot be certain when they buy meat at their local butcher or supermarket whether it is New Zealand raised or imported. We imported 2.4 times as much meat from Australia as we exported to them.
Cheap food imports are wiping out our local growers: last year we imported 1,839 tonnes of cheap inferior garlic from China. This has helped to decimate New Zealand’s once thriving garlic growing industry. Roxdale sun-ripened apricots have succumbed to cheaper cans of green-picked, acid-treated fruit from China, South Africa and Spain.
The Californian Department of Health has issued a warning to consumers not to eat ginger imported from China because it might contain a dangerous pesticide (aldicarb sulfoxide). New Zealand imported 165 tonnes of ginger from China last year.
40% of pig meat on sale in New Zealand is imported (though if you walk around a supermarket with a magnifying glass you won’t find a label telling you where it’s all ended up). About 30% (7,726 tonnes in 2006) comes from Canada; some pig herds in Canada are contaminated with the superbug bacteria MRSA (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus). Pigs in Australia are fed a growth hormone that is not permitted here - last year we imported 10,232 tonnes of pig meat from Australia. Pigs in China have been fed the asthma medication clenbuterol to make them leaner - last year we imported 104 tonnes of preserved pig meat, such as ham, from China.
Shrimps from China have been found to contain carcinogenic antimicrobials nitrofuran, malachite green, and gentian violet, as well as the banned insecticide DDT, and fluoroquinolone, an antibiotic critical to human health, but threatened by antibiotic resistance. As a result of these concerns, the United States has halted five types of farmed fish from China at the border. 25% of our imported shrimps and prawns come from China - 937 tonnes in 2006 - and none of it was tested for residues.
Australian tomatoes are dipped in the toxic insecticide dimethoate but New Zealand tomatoes aren’t. Dimethoate cannot be removed by washing and has been found to disrupt reproductive function, cause chromosomal aberrations, damage the immune system, disrupt the endocrine system and affect the nervous system.
A survey in China found candied fruit with 63 times the permitted amount of sweetener and excessive additives and preservatives in nearly 40% of the children's snacks. Last year New Zealand imported 1 tonne of glazed fruit from China and 6,152 tonnes of other preserved fruit, which may or may not be sweetened.
In April this year the United States rejected 137 shipments of food from China because it was “filthyâ€Â, contained the food poisoning bacteria salmonella, or banned chemicals, etc; but our government does not routinely check imports from China, let alone turn ships away at the border.
That is why we need mandatory Country of Origin labelling:
so we can tell where the food we eat comes from,
support local growers,
and avoid eating food from countries with a poor food safety record.