FGC has twice written to the government of the day urging a review of New Zealand’s law regarding malicious tampering of food, beverages, pharmaceuticals and other consumer goods to ensure it is fit for purpose, particularly in terms of penalties. In 2015, we wrote to...
The NZ Food & Grocery Council supports the provisions of the Food Standards Code (Standard 1.5.2) with regard to genetic engineering. To date, our members have not taken up GE ingredients in food because there has not been a consumer benefit worth launching onto...
FGC believes a mandatory standard for sunscreens would be a good idea as long as it was overseen by the Environmental Protection Agency, which oversees the Cosmetics Standard. It would a regulatory disaster for either Medsafe or the Ministry of Health to regulate...
In 2021, the Government announced it was mandating the addition of folic acid to flour. This would come into effect in 2023. FGC said its members have been voluntarily fortifying bread for many years now, and it would support its members to meet the Government’s...
There has been ongoing debate about the dangers of acrylamide in food and beverage. Food Standards Australia New Zealand has developed an infographic on acrylamide for the food industry, together with updated web content that draws heavily on the content of the...
The issue of wet wipes clogging sewerage systems has been a growing issue in recent years as this grocery category has become more popular. The Food & Grocery Council has been working on the issue since 2015 when it became aware of concerns that wet wipes, along...
A British Medical Journal discussion on pro’s and con’s of a sugar tax provides a balanced discussion, but it’s clear that such taxes would have to be enormous to have an effect. The discussion, “Could a sugar tax help obesity?”, featured Adjunct Professor Sirpa...
FGC commissioned world-renowned philosopher and author Julian Baggini to give his unique perspective on current discussions in the food industry. In this article, he discusses a topic that is regularly raised – should healthier food automatically be cheaper. Coke or...
Palm oil is used in many food and grocery products because of its versatility. There has been an ongoing campaign by groups within New Zealand and overseas to restrict its use because of deforestation in sensitive habitats in the world’s biggest producing countries...
To make sure consumers receive milk that is of a consistent quality and taste, some fresh-milk companies standardise the protein levels. And they do this by using permeate in some milk types. So what is permeate? It is the name given to the milk-sugar (lactose) and...
From 12 February 2022, businesses must comply with the new Consumer Information Standards (Origin of Food) Regulations that apply to certain fresh and thawed foods: fruit, vegetables, finfish, shellfish, and cured pork such as ham, bacon, and prosciutto. If these...
In April 2016, Katherine Rich answered questions from Fairfax Media on obesity, applying sugar taxes on sodas, and a response to criticism from an academic in the US on FGC’s comments on the effectiveness of Mexico’s soda tax. The resulting article...
