Are the meat/poultry/fish we buy in NZ free-range ?

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coolcat21

285 posts

Ultimate Geek

#148906 4-Jul-2014 19:46

Free-range/grass-fed without antibiotics & hormone.

The meats/poultry/fish we buy from stores like Countdown, Pak n Save, Mad Butcher etc. If there are not explicit label saying it is.

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587 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1081167 4-Jul-2014 19:49

Cows and sheep are grass feed, I don't think farmers are allowed to corn feed them.

gzt

11182 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#1081172 4-Jul-2014 19:54

coolcat21:Are the meat/poultry/fish we buy in NZ free-range? Free-range/grass-fed without antibiotics & hormone. The meats/poultry/fish we buy from stores like Countdown, Pak n Save, Mad Butcher etc. If there are not explicit label saying it is.

I saw a news item on tv a few nights ago about pig farming. Based on that, pigs=no (unless labeled otherwise).

mattwnz

15867 posts

Uber Geek

#1081175 4-Jul-2014 20:00

Depends if it is imported or not. I don't think country of label origin is mandatory either, so you don't really know where it comes from unless it says it is NZ grown, or has the NZ stickers on it.

pgs2050

194 posts

Master Geek

#1081177 4-Jul-2014 20:02

Free range / organic / gluten free - if it doesn't say so on the label, it definitely isn't. The producers of these kinds of products will not waste the opportunity to label it and charge you more (if only because it costs more to produce).

coolcat21

285 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1081178 4-Jul-2014 20:05

pgs2050: Free range / organic / gluten free - if it doesn't say so on the label, it definitely isn't. The producers of these kinds of products will not waste the opportunity to label it and charge you more (if only because it costs more to produce).

so you're saying all those unlabelled over-the-counter beef that you can get from mad butcher, countdown, foodtown, paknsave are all non grass fed ?

MikeB4

14919 posts

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#1081180 4-Jul-2014 20:08

3 people support this post

Lamb and Beef are free range. Chicken and Pork will be labelled if free range.

Mike
Retired IT Manager.
The views stated in my posts are my personal views and not that of any other organisation.

Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.

mattwnz

15867 posts

Uber Geek

#1081181 4-Jul-2014 20:11

coolcat21:
pgs2050: Free range / organic / gluten free - if it doesn't say so on the label, it definitely isn't. The producers of these kinds of products will not waste the opportunity to label it and charge you more (if only because it costs more to produce).

so you're saying all those unlabelled over-the-counter beef that you can get from mad butcher, countdown, foodtown, paknsave are all non grass fed ?

They haven't said that. You need to read the assoicated websites that these meat producers belong to, or ask the manager at your supermarket. If it has a NZ beef sticker on it it has to meat certain standards.

Coil

6615 posts

Uber Geek
Inactive user

#1081185 4-Jul-2014 20:25

mattwnz:
coolcat21:
pgs2050: Free range / organic / gluten free - if it doesn't say so on the label, it definitely isn't. The producers of these kinds of products will not waste the opportunity to label it and charge you more (if only because it costs more to produce).

so you're saying all those unlabelled over-the-counter beef that you can get from mad butcher, countdown, foodtown, paknsave are all non grass fed ?

They haven't said that. You need to read the assoicated websites that these meat producers belong to, or ask the manager at your supermarket. If it has a NZ beef sticker on it it has to meat certain standards.

Discrete pun above!
I am quite sure all NZ fish as long as its salt is "Free Range" you could say..
Pork, Chicken would be labeled, Beef and lamb is on large dry stock farms.

gzt

11182 posts

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#1081186 4-Jul-2014 20:25

coolcat21:

There might be some confusion here. These are all separate things:

Free-range
Grass-fed
Without antibiotics
Hormone
Organic

One or more of which can all be applied to:

Meat
Poultry
Fish

ie; Free range does not mean without antibiotics.

coolcat21

285 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1081192 4-Jul-2014 20:31

gzt:
coolcat21:

There might be some confusion here. These are all separate things:

Free-range
Grass-fed
Without antibiotics
Hormone
Organic

One or more of which can all be applied to:

Meat
Poultry
Fish

ie; Free range does not mean without antibiotics.

Huh..always thought it was.

Yikes, i don't wanna eat chicken which had been on any kind of roids lol...

Glassboy

835 posts

Ultimate Geek

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#1081196 4-Jul-2014 20:39

It's actually better to buy NZ bacon, even if it isn't labeled tree-hugger certified, you can at least be sure that there are good regulations on what they can be fed and treated with. If it's not labelled NZ it's probably low end Canadian bacon.

MikeB4

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#1081201 4-Jul-2014 20:51

Pork is a meat I avoid due to high purine levels.

Mike
Retired IT Manager.
The views stated in my posts are my personal views and not that of any other organisation.

Be it ever so humble, there is no place like home.

Batman

Mad Scientist
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#1081212 4-Jul-2014 21:24

KiwiNZ: Lamb and Beef are free range. Chicken and Pork will be labelled if free range.

i had the impression that the term free range is not legislated. ie one could label anything as free range.

Involuntary autocorrect in operation on mobile device. Apologies in advance.

HowickDota

409 posts

Ultimate Geek

#1081218 4-Jul-2014 21:35

joker97:
KiwiNZ: Lamb and Beef are free range. Chicken and Pork will be labelled if free range.

i had the impression that the term free range is not legislated. ie one could label anything as free range.

Misleading consumers is an offence under the Fair Trading Act.

gzt

11182 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#1081225 4-Jul-2014 22:04

coolcat21:
gzt:
coolcat21:

There might be some confusion here. These are all separate things:

Free-range
Grass-fed
Without antibiotics
Hormone
Organic

One or more of which can all be applied to:

Meat
Poultry
Fish

ie; Free range does not mean without antibiotics.

Huh..always thought it was.
Yikes, i don't wanna eat chicken which had been on any kind of roids lol...

No hormones in standard industry practice in NZ chicken:

Encyclopedia of New Zealand: The Poultry Industry Association of New Zealand states that hormones have never been used in poultry meat production, and that poultry is the only meat in New Zealand that is regularly and independently tested for the presence of hormones, and found free of them.

Not the same for antibiotics:

Encyclopedia of New Zealand: Antibiotics have been used in meat, milk and egg production in New Zealand since government approval in the 1960s.

If you want to avoid those you will need one of the 'organic' certifications. Not sure which one.

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