Australian Made pushes to keep consumers informed

The Australian Made Campaign is supporting the call from the seafood industry for an extension of country-of-origin labelling to fast food outlets.

The seafood industry is calling for fish and chip shops to display the country of origin of the fish they sell, to arm consumers with all of the facts about the seafood they are buying.

 “Shoppers want to know the source of the food they consume, particularly when it comes to seafood, because they have doubts about some environments and more confidence in others,” Australian Made Chief Executive, Ian Harrison, said.

 “There is a great level of trust in the quality of Australian seafood because of our clean, green environment and high safety standards.”

 As it stands, the country-of-origin of raw seafood sold anywhere in Australia must be provided, but if it is to be cooked for immediate consumption, the same rules do not apply. At present only the Northern Territory has country-of-origin laws that apply to cooked seafood, although new legislation will come into effect in South Australia next month.

 “It would make good business sense for fast food outlets across the country to supply Australian produce and aggressively market it as such,” Mr Harrison said.

 “We believe in helping consumers make informed choices, and the extension of country-of-origin labelling to cooked food where practical would be another step in the right direction.”

Consumers can look for the green-and-gold ‘Australian Seafood’ logo to identify genuine Aussie seafood.