increase font size
New Zealand retailers are being reminded to clearly label their irradiated tomatoes as the season’s first shipment arrives from Australia this week.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) requires anyone selling irradiated produce to clearly label it at point of sale. The regulation applies to any irradiated tomatoes and products containing them, both raw and cooked.
Tomatoes New Zealand chair Alasdair Macleod says consumers want to know what they are eating and the labels allow consumers to make an informed choice.
A recent consumer survey found that many New Zealanders support the labelling of irradiated produce, with 85% of survey participants asking for irradiated fruit and vegetables, and food made with irradiated produce, to be clearly identified.
“If you’re unsure of the source of your produce, you should ask the supplier,” says Macleod.
Irradiation kills bacteria and other pests including insects and is required of all tomatoes imported from Australia. Macleod says New Zealand-grown tomatoes are never irradiated and Tomatoes NZ supports measures taken to protect New Zealand’s vulnerable horticulture industry from pests like the Queensland fruit fly.
The irradiation process uses electrical beams, X-rays or gamma rays generated from the radioactive source Cobalt 60 to kill off any bacteria and pests.
ANYTHING GOOD for Australia is in the long run good for New Zealand. That’s the reaction of Trade Minister Tim Groser to the news that Australia has signed a free trade agreement with China, and to speculation that their FTA with China is better than NZ’s, especially regarding dairy products.
Dairy farmers in the Australian state of Victoria had a record profitable 2022-23 season, thanks to high milk prices and carefully managed high costs.
OPINION: A mutilation mystery is playing out on a remote Central Queensland property in Australia after a number of cows were found dead in inexplicable circumstances.
A shrinking milk pool in Australia is forcing major processors, including Fonterra, to outbid each other and secure farmer suppliers for the new season.
OPINION: News that the Labour Government is spending taxpayer money to advertise to New Zealanders living in Australia that life is better there now they can get citizenship is appalling.
Federated Farmers president Wayne Langford is claiming “some real success” on the 12 policy priorities it placed before the Coalition Government.
Federated Farmers is throwing its support behind the Fast-track Approvals Bill introduced by the Coalition Government to enable a fast-track decision-making process for infrastructure and development projects.
The latest report from ANZ isn’t good news for sheep farmers: lamb returns are forecast to remain low.
Divine table grapes that herald the start of a brand-new industry in Hawke’s Bay have been coming off vines in Maraekakaho.
In what appears to be a casualty of the downturn in the agricultural sector, a well-known machinery brand is now in the hands of liquidators and owing creditors $6.6 million.
One of New Zealand’s deepest breeder Jersey herds – known for its enduring connection through cattle with the UK’s longest reigning monarch, Queen Elizabeth II – will host its 75th anniversary celebration sale on-farm on April 22.
