Last week national dairy co-operative Fonterra was internationally implicated for its involvement with contaminated milk products sold in China. The deaths and harm caused to Chinese babies can make local consumers question the safety and quality of food on their own dinner tables, especially if it’s imported.
Green MP Sue Kedgley supports a safe food campaign calling for mandatory country of origin labelling. However, the NZ Food Safety Authority says country of origin labelling says nothing about the safety of food and the information is optional for food on shop shelves.
Ian Daynes, Highland Park
“You can try to put in as many controls as possible and regulations and checks, but I guess nothing is 100 per cent. When something like this happens it shows up faults in the system so there’s probably a loophole somewhere.”
Denise Downs, Mt Wellington
“There should be correct markings on products. We need to understand the labels ourselves to check if the products are safe. A guarantee that lets people know a product has been checked before it goes out at supermarkets would help.”
Ann Gold, Bucklands Beach
“We’ve stricter guidelines in place [than China]. I’d hope they’d ensure those are maintained and perhaps even looked at further. We’ve limited input overseas. I do read labels but there are occasions when the public are not notified of changes.”
Michael Innes-Walker, Pigeon Mountain
“We shouldn’t send anything [food] to China. Everybody should have a good look at what they’re buying. I never used to bother but now I do. If it comes from China I back off if there’s something else I can get from here.”
John Bain, Panmure
“If food goes through the proper channels for testing before it hits the streets it should be okay. If it’s produced and made here, it’s [the testing] probably suffice, but importing is probably a bit different. Not too sure how the channels are there.”
Helen Tai, Bucklands Beach
“The best you can do is take precautions, like wash veggies and keep meat fresh in the freezer. With baby food you’ve just got to stick with brands you know and keep an eye on your own kids to see if they do react to something.”
