Food labelling rules in NZ

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Geek

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Reply # 759280 11-Feb-2013 07:15
Check the Food Standards Code and labelling requirements in particular: http://www.foodsafety.govt.nz/industry/general/labelling-composition/ Cheers, Gary

jpoc

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Reply # 759295 11-Feb-2013 08:05
richms: Or they are doing the 95% by volume or something? Can I say that I am over 95% sure that you are quite correct?

NonprayingMantis

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Reply # 759314 11-Feb-2013 09:06
I always thought there was a margin of error allowed for in these kind of labels, like with weights. a bag that states 1kg of potatoes can have + or - x% since it is virtually impossible to get a perfect measure every time.

jfanning

122 posts

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Reply # 759316 11-Feb-2013 09:13
John2010: Well, seeing as you are seeking what you regard as perfection, from me in the clarity of my posts, may I, in turn, suggest that you work on improving your grammar and punctuation? Yip, no problem, I have no problem accepting I have made a mistake

gzt

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Reply # 759953 12-Feb-2013 10:50
This could be a rounding issue. Taking a very generous view maybe one is rounded up and other was rounded down. Maybe different guidance for nutritional labeling vs headline product labeling. That is certainly the case in other areas seen before on geekzone like the one with 100% natural on the headline but actually contains some artificial product listed on the nutritional labeling. It could be that P&S specify to suppliers that %fat must be within +-1% (or even +-2%) to qualify for supply of the 95% fat free label segment and the labeling allows this. It would be a fun thing for Target or Fair Go to test a few of these low fat things and see how many are within 1% of the nutritional label anyway. Is the labeling inconsistency illegal or non compliant with food regulations? No idea. As for the knocks don't worry about it. That is only two out of many more posting on this topic.

John2010

532 posts

Ultimate Geek

Reply # 761637 13-Feb-2013 11:40
NonprayingMantis: I always thought there was a margin of error allowed for in these kind of labels, like with weights. a bag that states 1kg of potatoes can have + or - x% since it is virtually impossible to get a perfect measure every time. You are showing some good sense :-). For the Nutritional Information Panel the requirement is that the quantity is an "average". "Average" can be determined by the manufacturer's analysis, calculation from the average or actual quantity of the nutrient or calculation from data that is generally accepted. As far as I know there is no other guidance as to the statistics such as standard deviation. gzt: For ingredients comprising 5% or more, rounding is to 1%; for ingredients less than 5% rounding is to 0.5%, that rounding being applied to the average which we all, well some of us anyway :-), know is itself subject to deviation. So in the case of a claim of 5% for an ingredient, the actual can be more than 1% different and, of course, vary from pack to pack.

networkn

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Reply # 761640 13-Feb-2013 11:43
John2010: NonprayingMantis: I always thought there was a margin of error allowed for in these kind of labels, like with weights. a bag that states 1kg of potatoes can have + or - x% since it is virtually impossible to get a perfect measure every time. You are showing some good sense :-). For the Nutritional Information Panel the requirement is that the quantity is an "average". "Average" can be determined by the manufacturer's analysis, calculation from the average or actual quantity of the nutrient or calculation from data that is generally accepted. As far as I know there is no other guidance as to the statistics such as standard deviation. gzt: For ingredients comprising 5% or more, rounding is to 1%; for ingredients less than 5% rounding is to 0.5%, that rounding being applied to the average which we all, well some of us anyway :-), know is itself subject to deviation. So in the case of a claim of 5% for an ingredient, the actual can be more than 1% different and, of course, vary from pack to pack. Someone set this as the answer :)

sbiddle

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Reply # 761698 13-Feb-2013 13:14
While "average" can make this acceptable, the reason the issue is occuring is pure laziness on behalf of the store. Having been responsible for ensuring this very issue didn't occur in a past life I can tell you exactly why it occurs. Stores have a PLU list of products that are loaded into their scales. Rather than using a specific PLU for this product the store has simply used a generic "95% fat free" PLU number for these sausages. *Need help configuring your Linksys ATA or IP Phones for New Zealand? Check my blog post

LennonNZ

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Reply # 761703 13-Feb-2013 13:19
To close this off Brancos has been notified and they are contacting the Store to complain about it :-)

mattwnz

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Reply # 761708 13-Feb-2013 13:22
sbiddle: While "average" can make this acceptable, the reason the issue is occuring is pure laziness on behalf of the store. Having been responsible for ensuring this very issue didn't occur in a past life I can tell you exactly why it occurs. Stores have a PLU list of products that are loaded into their scales. Rather than using a specific PLU for this product the store has simply used a generic "95% fat free" PLU number for these sausages. If you saw Campbell live last night, you will see that these companies make a lot of money in NZ, and out food is a lot more expensive that in the UK, even though we produce a lot of it. So they are making plenty of money to not have these sorts of problems. From my experience, complaining to the staff in store has been a waste of time.

BlueShift

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Reply # 761715 13-Feb-2013 13:28
mattwnz: sbiddle: While "average" can make this acceptable, the reason the issue is occuring is pure laziness on behalf of the store. Having been responsible for ensuring this very issue didn't occur in a past life I can tell you exactly why it occurs. Stores have a PLU list of products that are loaded into their scales. Rather than using a specific PLU for this product the store has simply used a generic "95% fat free" PLU number for these sausages. If you saw Campbell live last night, you will see that these companies make a lot of money in NZ, and out food is a lot more expensive that in the UK, even though we produce a lot of it. So they are making plenty of money to not have these sorts of problems. From my experience, complaining to the staff in store has been a waste of time. As long as the sausages are at least 95% horse free, all is good ;-)

TwoSeven

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Reply # 761761 13-Feb-2013 14:30
I wouldnt eat that food anyway because of the additives in it - I much prefer real food. However, in jest, perhaps they are giving you 95% of the 6g of fat for free and only charging you for the last 5% of it.

Regs

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Reply # 761948 13-Feb-2013 21:03
mattwnz: If you saw Campbell live last night, you will see that these companies make a lot of money in NZ, and out food is a lot more expensive that in the UK, even though we produce a lot of it. So they are making plenty of money to not have these sorts of problems. From my experience, complaining to the staff in store has been a waste of time. Campbell Live didn't show the other costs of selling in their article, nor did they do a "comparative spending analysis" based on food prices v average salaries. Their article is interesting, but does not have enough research to make it a fair comparison. I believe that the minimum wage is much lower in the UK, and that there is no VAT on food, so maybe those are big reasons that the food costs less.... (i can not confirm the accuracy of this, i might be mistaken) Australia also has a complex GST setup where some items incur tax, and others dont. That's likely to have a big impact on prices there. NZ slaps GST on everything, and the minimum wage is realtively high compared to other countries. Need help implementing Microsoft CRM? Give OA Systems a shout. Winners of CRM Solution of the Year at the 2010 Microsoft NZ Partner Awards

richms

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Reply # 761955 13-Feb-2013 21:13
High minimum wages are possibly part of the reason for the high prices, but in the case of NZ goods going offshore they still are paying those high prices thru all the production and packing in NZ, its just the local distributors, and supermarkets that are suffering the high wages and energy costs in NZ. If they can put other things thru their supply chains and still be quite reasonably priced, there is no excuse for NZ grown primary products for being the prices that they are other than someone somewhere along the chain making a killing. I dont blame the supermarkets, I expect that the pilaging is furthur up the chain. Richard rich.ms

mattwnz

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Reply # 761981 13-Feb-2013 22:23
richms: High minimum wages are possibly part of the reason for the high prices, but in the case of NZ goods going offshore they still are paying those high prices thru all the production and packing in NZ, its just the local distributors, and supermarkets that are suffering the high wages and energy costs in NZ. If they can put other things thru their supply chains and still be quite reasonably priced, there is no excuse for NZ grown primary products for being the prices that they are other than someone somewhere along the chain making a killing. I dont blame the supermarkets, I expect that the pilaging is furthur up the chain. Well with fruit and veges, I have heard that local growers get paid very little when it is purchased by wholesalers, and the amounts charged in the shops it a huge markup on what the cost price is from the producer. So someone looks like they are making a big profit somewhere in the chain. But producers in NZ have very little choice if they don't export the goods, due to there only being two main supermarket chains. Interesting that NZ has had the second highest food price rises in the last 10 years in the OECD, especially considering we produce so much of it here. At least Campbell live is highlighting these problems.

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