MP moves to save New Zealand bacon

NEW ZEALAND - It's marketed as "the taste of New Zealand", but now the iconic Kiwi Bacon brand is facing a Commerce Commission complaint because some of its pork is imported.
calendar icon 2 April 2007
clock icon 3 minute read

Green MP Sue Kedgley plans to lodge the complaint, saying consumers are being duped into thinking they are buying New Zealand products.

Kiwi Bacon does not divulge on the packaging that it contains imported pork.

Kiwi Bacon's maker Goodman Fielder said it used a mix of imported and New Zealand pork, but refused to say what proportion of New Zealand pork it used or which countries the pork came from.

Asked whether Goodman Fielder was misleading consumers about the origins of Kiwi Bacon, a spokeswoman for the company said it had "decided not to comment".

The government last year vetoed the requirement that manufacturers label products with their country of origin, so consumers are often unaware of where the food on supermarket shelves comes from.

A flood of cheap imports is being blamed for killing off New Zealand-canned Roxdale apricots, ending a 45-year tradition.

The intensely flavoured Otago canned apricots are just one of the victims of the rising tide of imports. Shoppers may soon find themselves eating apricots imported from China, Spain or South Africa.

New Zealand now imports more processed fruit and vegetables than it exports.

Roxdale Foods manager Fred Jeffrey said the last Roxdale apricots were canned last year, and would be disappearing off supermarket shelves over the next year. He said rising costs and low-priced imports had contributed to the decision.

Source: Stuff.co.nz

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