ACCC
A newsletter for consumers and consumer organisations
Want to request an ACCC publication or make a complaint? Contact the ACCC Infocentre on 1300 302 502. To suggest story ideas or to subscribe to consumer express, email the ACCC consumer express team at express@accc.gov.au. ACCC consumer express is published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for the general information of consumers and consumer organisations. It may be freely reproduced subject to acknowledgment of the source.
Food for thought…
Do you know what you’re eating? Knowledge of food content is important for consumers making dietary and spending decisions. In Australia, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is responsible for developing standards for correct food labelling. On the 29 April 2004 the ACCC signed a memorandum of understanding with FSANZ to enable greater information and resource sharing to promote trade practices compliance with the standards.
As part of the food labelling standard, products must display nutritional information panels on food packaging. These panels are generally the best way for consumers to find the information they need to make an informed decision—they can develop their understanding of nutritional content beyond the claims made on labels by food companies. Here are some of the more common food labelling issues to be aware of today.
‘Fat free’—Fat free products are often attractive to people watching their weight. However, products that are fat free but loaded with sugar may not be ideal—sugars not used up as energy are converted to fat by the body for storage. When deciding what to buy, pay particular attention to the declared energy (kilojoule) level per serving. ‘X per cent fat’—The percentage of fat on the front of the product label is usually fat as a per cent of the total ingoing weight of the product and not fat as a per cent of the total calories of the product. As most products naturally contain a lot of water (oven
Want to request an ACCC publication or make a complaint? Contact the ACCC Infocentre on 1300 302 502. To suggest story ideas or to subscribe to consumer express, email the ACCC consumer express team at express@accc.gov.au. ACCC consumer express is published by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission for the general information of consumers and consumer organisations. It may be freely reproduced subject to acknowledgment of the source.
Food for thought…
Do you know what you’re eating? Knowledge of food content is important for consumers making dietary and spending decisions. In Australia, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is responsible for developing standards for correct food labelling. On the 29 April 2004 the ACCC signed a memorandum of understanding with FSANZ to enable greater information and resource sharing to promote trade practices compliance with the standards.
As part of the food labelling standard, products must display nutritional information panels on food packaging. These panels are generally the best way for consumers to find the information they need to make an informed decision—they can develop their understanding of nutritional content beyond the claims made on labels by food companies. Here are some of the more common food labelling issues to be aware of today.
‘Fat free’—Fat free products are often attractive to people watching their weight. However, products that are fat free but loaded with sugar may not be ideal—sugars not used up as energy are converted to fat by the body for storage. When deciding what to buy, pay particular attention to the declared energy (kilojoule) level per serving. ‘X per cent fat’—The percentage of fat on the front of the product label is usually fat as a per cent of the total ingoing weight of the product and not fat as a per cent of the total calories of the product. As most products naturally contain a lot of water (oven