Growers call for origin labelling

LABELS: New Zealand growers are calling for origin labelling.

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The discovery of tonnes of pesticide-contaminated vegetables in China has renewed New Zealand growers' calls for country-of-origin labelling.

The China Daily reports 9.6 tonnes of toxic vegetables were recently found at a market in Nanning, in southern China.

New Zealand imported $20 million worth of vegetables, including fresh garlic and some frozen vegetable products, from China last year, comprising 21 per cent of vegetable imports.

Talley's Group spokesman Bob Darragh said the discovery highlighted the need for consumers to have a choice about their food source.

"Talley's is the only producer which uses all New Zealand products," Darragh said.

"New Zealand producers have to meet certain standards – how do we know what is coming in also meets those standards?"

Horticulture New Zealand spokeswoman Leigh Catley said the good agricultural practice (GAP) programme saw local producers working hard for low or nil-residue products.

The body backed mandatory country-of-origin labelling, Catley said.

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority said it was aware of the situation.

A spokesman said surveillance testing, which targeted potentially suspect items, had not found elevated residue levels.

"Our testing programme has not found any imported products are worse than local items."

However, Greens food safety spokeswoman Sue Kedgley said she understood imported-food testing was random, and focused on high-risk items.

"Only a tiny amount is spent on the border-testing of food," she said. "There is no way the Food Safety Authority can guarantee the quality of food and produce coming into New Zealand."

- © Fairfax NZ News