QUESTION: I was shocked to read in the "ingredients" list for a fruit-flavoured yoghurt powder that it contained no actual fruit, or even real fruit extract, despite the lovely fruit pictures on the front of the packages. How legal is this and how much other food packaging is blatantly wrong?
ANSWER: Was a consumer, you have every right to expect food labels to display accurate information. The Hansells boysenberry yoghurt powder mix you bought has hether a yoghurt contains real fruit or simply fruit flavouring is a valid question because, the product name "boysenberry yoghurt" in large letters on the front label above a picture of boysenberries when it does not contain any real boysenberries. A number of other food manufacturers use a similar approach in their labelling.
The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code sets out legal requirements for labelling, composition, safety, handling and food production and processing in New Zealand and Australia. Standard 1.2.2 provides specific information requirements for food labels. Among these, the product name or description should be "sufficient to indicate the true nature of the food".
Food Standards Australia New Zealand produces posters that provide further details on food labels, and these posters include the example of a fruit yoghurt, noting, for instance, that "If the yoghurt contained strawberry flavouring rather than real fruit, then the name would need to indicate that it is strawberry-flavoured yoghurt."
Another FSANZ poster elaborates on the same fruit yoghurt example: "Fair trading laws and food laws in Australia and New Zealand require that labels do not misinform through false, misleading or deceptive representations. For example, a food with a picture of strawberries on the label must contain strawberries."
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the {{IssueName}} edition of {{MagazineName}}.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
First-world problem
Harrowing tales of migrants attempting to enter the US highlight the political failure to fully tackle the problem.
Applying intelligence to AI
I call it the 'Terminator Effect', based on the premise that thinking machines took over the world.
Nazism rears its head
Smirky Höcke, with his penchant for waving with a suspiciously straight elbow and an open palm, won't get to be boss of either state.
Staying ahead of the game
Will the brave new world of bipartisanship that seems to be on offer with an Infrastructure Commission come to fruition?
Grasping the nettle
Broccoli is horrible. It smells, when being cooked, like cat pee.
Hangry? Eat breakfast
People who don't break their fast first thing in the morning report the least life satisfaction.
Chemical reaction
Nitrates in processed meats are well known to cause harm, but consumed from plant sources, their effect is quite different.
Me and my guitar
Australian guitarist Karin Schaupp sticks to the familiar for her Dunedin concerts.
Time is on my side
Age does not weary some of our much-loved musicians but what keeps them on the road?
The kids are not alright
Nuanced account details how China's blessed generation has been replaced by one consumed by fear and hopelessness.