Australia’s ABC Four Corners has released a must see documentary on food safety entitled “We tested your groceries. This is what we found” which is now available to view on YouTube. The programme examines the deficient practices of FSANZ which governs food safety in both Australia and New Zealand. Four Corners tested a range of products from supermarket shelves including:
Tinned Tomatoes, Tomato Paste, Passata, Eggs, Seafood, Turmeric, Alcohol
It tested for country of origin, contaminants, adulteration and substitution of ingredients. It found food labelling fraud is very widespread in the processed food industry, including among our most purchased brands. It also revealed deliberate efforts by food technologists to develop food addictions to unhealthy ingredients even from an early age, along with labelling that obscures what is actually going into foods. In the program, there are interviews with a range of regulators, food testers and industry employees which reveal the wide scale of fraud.
The program found that food fraud has been on the increase since 2019. Tests identified tomatoes labelled ‘Grown in Australia’ actually produced in China using Uiger forced labour and tomato paste from Italy grown by Nigerian immigrants earning 2 or 3 Euros a day. Turmeric containing contaminants, bulking agents and even added colouring from lead chromate. Coconut milk with dairy contamination dangerous to those with allergies. Bread with iron filings. Meat from horses, cats and dogs sold as beef. Eggs labelled cage-free actually from cages. Whiskey with eight times the legal limit of highly toxic methanol contamination. Olive oil sold to the catering and restaurant industry as ‘extra virgin’ when it is actually cheaper oil disguised by green colouring. Fish labelled as locally farmed when it came from fish farms in Vietnam. Food labelled ‘100% Natural’ with artificial ingredients, and so on.
Remarkably, producers and retailers such as Woolworths and Coles contacted by the program about the alarming test results routinely refused to accept the results and acknowledge liability. FSANZ which is supposed to ensure food is safe and healthy has a Health Star Rating system scored out of five which has been ‘gamed’ by the food industry so that half of all products scoring more that 2.5 on the scale are actually unhealthy. A tiny proportion of foods sold are routinely tested. When challenged, FSANZ informed the program that their health rating system needs to take account of the needs of the food industry.
We suggest you watch the program for the details, it is a real eye opener. Alarming though the program is, our regular readers will see that it covers only a part of the problem, regulators are allowing high herbicide and pesticide content to go unlabelled while genetically engineered ingredients and processing aids posing unquantified health risks are being widely used without identification.
Our average Kiwi diet now includes 50% ultra processed foods which are causing a range of health problems. Moreover the problems especially affect our youth, undermining their health, longevity and behaviour. The take home lesson of the programme should be that fresh whole unprocessed local ingredients, preferably organic, win every time when it comes to food safety and nutrition.
