I would like to know why ingredients are not listed when you purchase bread products (for example Bakers Delight)?
– Mary, NSW
Kat says: In Australia, all packaged food has to comply with the Australia New Zealand food standards code. The code is adopted into various legislative instruments in all jurisdictions across Australia and New Zealand, which means it applies consistently wherever you are in the country.
The code includes labelling requirements which stipulate that labelling on packaged food must contain certain information, including a list of ingredients. Ingredients must be listed in order of how much of the ingredient is in the product, which is measured by ingoing weight. So if the product is made up of 50% flour, for instance, this would be listed first, as it makes up the highest proportion of the product.
Jurisdictional legislation makes it an offence to sell food that is not compliant with the code – and this also applies to food manufactured overseas. Additionally, food labels cannot be misleading or deceptive and so must also comply with the Australian consumer law.
But not all food manufacturers are necessarily required to comply with the code. The short answer to your question is there are exemptions which mean some bread products you buy aren’t required to have their ingredients listed by the manufacturer.
In the case of Bakers Delight and other businesses selling bread, there is an exemption for packaged food that is both made and packaged on the premises from which it is sold. This means that for anyone making, packaging and selling food from the one location, they are not required to have food labelling. Conversely, the packaged bread you buy at the supermarket is required to have an ingredients list, as it is manufactured and packaged elsewhere and transported to the supermarket for sale.
Some supermarkets have a bakery onsite (your local Woolworths might, for example), but they also might transport bakery items to smaller locations, such as a Woolworths metro, which might not have a bakery. So while they meet the exemption when they have a bakery onsite, you still will often see an ingredients list on the packaging, given they’ll often distribute goods across their stores.
Other exemptions include where food is packaged in the presence of the purchaser (for instance, a sandwich from a deli); whole or cut fresh fruit and vegetables in a package that shows the type and quality of the food (for instance, when you get tomatoes inexplicably packaged on a styrofoam bed and wrapped in clingfilm); where food is delivered packaged and ready to eat on an express order (for instance, takeaway food); if the food is sold at a fundraising event (such as a school fete) or if the food is displayed in an assisted service display cabinet (an “enclosed or semi-enclosed display cabinet” which requires a person to serve the food as requested by the customer).
Bakers Delight does, however, include ingredients lists on product listings on its website. Smaller bakeries might not offer this, but if you’re concerned at all, you can always ask what ingredients are in a bread product when you’re purchasing from an exempt seller. My guess is the seller will be more than happy to let you know.
Kat George is a board member at Australian consumer advocacy group Choice. Her Guardian column is written in her capacity as a policy expert and does not reflect the views of Choice
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