FOOD labelling laws need an urgent overhaul following revelations a leading Australian gourmet producer has been caught up in provenance issues, says the head of Tasmania's peak agricultural group.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has accepted a court enforceable undertaking from Maggie Beer Products, which acknowledged labelling issues on some of its food.
It related to "place of origin" representations on ice-cream, red wine vinegar, biscuits and extra virgin olive oil.
A reasonable consumer would have gained the impression the products were manufactured in Tanunda, the Barossa Valley and or South Australia, when it was not the case, the commission found.
"Consumers are often willing to pay premium prices for local products and businesses are following consumer demand by stocking local goods," ACCC chairman Rod Sims said.
"Protecting the integrity of credence claims made about food products is a priority enforcement area for the ACCC."
Ms Beer said her company had been in discussions with the ACCC about food labelling and provenance.
"The ACCC brought to our attention the labels on four product lines could mislead consumers into thinking they were made in the Barossa Valley," Ms Beer said.
"It has absolutely never been our intention for this to be the case."
But Tasmanian Farmers' and Graziers chief executive Jan Davis said the issue highlighted the need for an urgent review of food labelling laws.
"If someone as high profile as Maggie Beer is slipping through the net, then clearly we have an issue," Ms Davis said.
Tasmanian farmers and graziers relied on high-quality, low volume products, but were disadvantaged on the supermarket shelf, she said.
"We are trading on the fact we don't do scale, we look for a return on high value, niche market products," Ms Davis said.
"But the laws only apply to local product – other people can pretty much do as they wish."
The TFGA was also concerned about the complexity of the system, which made it difficult for the average consumer to be able to identify and support local farmers.
"The whole system needs an overhaul, nobody understands it – is it product of, produce of, made in? Nobody gets that stuff and we almost make it difficult for people to identify."
Mr Sims said the ACCC preferred to use the law to keep producers and manufacturers to account, rather than change labelling.
"It's important it's accurate, so the consumer gets what they think they are getting, because companies go to a lot of trouble to establish a reputation," Mr Sims said.
"They should be able to take advantage of that.
"If we want people to innovate in business and come up with new ways of branding and products we can't allow imitation, when it is not true."
