Business Women Want A Cool World Food Day

16 October 2009
Media release: For Immediate Use

Business Women Want A Cool World Food Day

The New Zealand Federation of Business and Professional Women (BPWNZ) is using the United Nations (UN) World Food Day on 16 October to call for mandatory country of origin labelling (CoOL) on fresh fruit, vegetables, meat and fish.

"We’re calling for mandatory country of origin labelling on food so that we can make more informed choices about what we buy for our families", said Angela McLeod, BPWNZ President.

"We’ve supported Sue Kedgley right from the start with our members making up some of the 37,988 signature petition in 2007 on this and really can’t understand why the delay”

Knowing the country of origin allows for purchasing decisions to be based on research. Consumers might want to make their choice based on the human rights, animal welfare, food safety and/or environmental records of the country of origin, rather than price.

A classic example of this is Wednesday’s Importer Alert from NZFSA regarding lead in plum and prune products imported to the US from Asia. Products include salted, candied, dried and preserved plums and prunes. The levels of lead found in the products tested in Texas do not comply with the Joint Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

“How would we know not to buy these foods if they’re not labelled as to country of origin?”

Food not labelled with its country of origin has the potential not only to damage the reputation of the New Zealand farming industry but to damage many businesses related to tourism, the environment and the export food market.

"New Zealand's major trading partners - including Australia, the United States and China - already have mandatory country of origin labelling requirements – why can’t we?”

ENDS

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