Vegetable growers call for better food labelling

Australian vegetable growers say the discovery of glass in a frozen product imported from China underlines the need for better country of origin labelling.

A voluntary recall has been issued for Black and Gold brand bags of frozen broccoli on sale in eastern states, with a best-before date of July 8, 2014.

The company which distributed them, Metcash, is investigating.

William Churchill, from the industry group AUSVEG, says people shouldn't be fearful of locally-frozen vegies.

"What this really is is an issue about trust," he said.

"This example we're seen is typical of the lax standards of produce that comes out of China.

"If people start to assume that glass and vegetables go hand in hand together, they might start to think that means all vegetables.

"In Australia, we have one of the strongest quality assurance systems in the world and we want to make sure that people are confident in the Australian product."

Mr Churchill says surveys show people want to buy Australian produce, including fresh vegetables, but labelling is confusing and doesn't contain enough detail.

He says labels that say 'Made in Australia from local and imported ingredients' means shoppers can never know where the imported component has come from.

AUSVEG is calling on the major political parties to commit to changing labelling laws to make the country of origin of food clear.

Source: ABC News, 27 August 2013