food providers to discuss Country of Origin Labelling

Agriculture Minister David Littleproud has written to fast food outlets inviting them to discuss voluntarily displaying Country of Origin Labelling information.

 

Minister Littleproud said the fast food sector display country of origin in the same way as other packaged food products. The government plans to discuss the issue with the fast food industry in the near future.

 

“Consumers and farmers fought for years for a simple label showing the consumer where their food comes from,” Minister Littleproud said.

 

“The Coalition is delivering that. Simple bar graphs will show the percentage of packaged food which is Australian using labels which become compulsory on July 1 this year.

 

“It’d be great if fast food outlets voluntarily got on board too.

 

“Consumers deserve the chance to buy Australian. They deserve to know where their food comes from. Aussie farmers deserve the chance to collect on their hard work to produce clean, green food and the way to do that is to give consumers the chance to buy it.

 

“Many major fast food outlets already use very high proportions of Aussie farm produce.

 

“No business has anything to fear from consumers knowing where their food comes from – accurate information to consumers is what creates a pure market.”

 

The Coalition Government’s Country of Origin Labelling laws come into effect on July 1.