Labeling of Food Products

Question: Discuss about the Labeling of Food Products. Answer: Introduction Ethics is a field of knowledge, whose purpose is to deal with morals, disciplines related to a specified group, field or form of conduct. It is a method or a study that involves a systematic process, and recommendation for conducting any particular task or work. Ethics on labelling of food products help a buyer by suggesting that a product has particular qualities derived from its place of origin, or that it has certain social, environmental or nutritional credentials. Labelling on food products, helps a customer by guiding about the additives and preservatives included in the food product to make the food last longer, or to improve its taste and appearance. Ethical Issues The Australian Made Campaign Limited (AMCL), stated that Australian consumers are becoming increasingly concerned about the origin of the food products they eat, and these concerns are mainly consisted of economics, health and safety, ethical and environmental factors. In the year 2000, Food Standard Council of Australia decided to do the labelling of food products. Choice thinks that consumers of the various food products have the right to know about their food products i.e. from where the product comes from. It also stated that country of origin food labelling is a priority concern for Australian consumers (Zealand, 2015). The Australian manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) explained the value of the food products, as well as about the quality of the food products. Country of origin labelling is used as an important part of the safety and health information regarding food. The food ethics has an ability of determining the behavior of producers, manufacturers and retailers, and regula tors. Recently a debate was ignited in Australia over food labelling, due to a scandal. Food labelling should be done so that consumers are able to make informed decisions about their food consequences like health, ecological footprint and their food supply chain. Safety assessment is done of the all food products produced in Australia, before starting their sale in the market. Requirements for labelling of food products will vary from product to product. These requirements depend upon on other factors such as, where the product was grown, where it was packed etc. If any food product which is not produced in Australia, but the manufacturer claims it by images or words, that the product is produced in Australia, then it is an illegal task. (Australia, 2016). Business Problems regarding the current information on food labels is not meeting the actual expectations of consumers. Some business reported that some aspects of the framework are very tough and to use them is difficult, or we can say to follow them, looks impossible. To ensure that they are working according to the framework, sometimes they provide less information. The Australian government has tried to solve this problem, by providing more guidance material for industry and consumers. This consultation, regulatory impact statement discusses a number of issues which are like:- What information will satisfy consumers? How can businesses be more confident in using the claims? Hoe should the labelling of imported food be treated? What is the role of digital information? What activities may be required to increase awareness? The main motive is to provide more and more information to consumers about the products, while ensuring there are not undue costs to business and maintaining Australias trade obligations. A common wealth government is responsible for revising the label framework, some of them are:- The proposed changes to labels include, that the food products produced in Australia must have Australian logo. The food products must have a bar chart showing the proportion of ingredients. Consumers dont get the information they want regarding the food products and find the labels confusing because, the current labelling framework of Australia doesnt require businesses to provide all of this information. Current framework can be confusing and costly for business because, there are a number of expectations of business in relation to country of origin labelling. This framework consists of various Australian laws. Businesses have reported difficulties in applying the framework, including that some requirements are not necessary and government regulation is complex (FAO, 2015). Different conditions of the legislation related to country of origin labelling and are enforced by agencies at commonwealth and state and territory levels. For some food businesses, the current country of origin labelling is straightforward, flexible and does not impose significant costs. The framework does not require businesses to provide information on the proportion of Australian ingredients in a product, which consumers find an important key piece of information. The costs of interpreting and complying with the current framework can be difficult. Further, stakeholders have stated that, if substantial transformation were clarified, the 50 percent local production cost test would be unnecessary (Thompson, 1993). To satisfy the 50 percent production cost test, businesses must spend time learning about the requirements of the test. Then they have to apply that test to each of their affected products, and review each product to ensure that compliance with the requirement is maintained. There are various negative effects of buyer motives, some of them are as mentioned below:- Manufacturers have to invest a lot of money into testing of the products, which increases their manufacturing cost, depending on them grocers will also cost more. Food producer at the smaller level would feel the cost burden much more, and number of consumers decreases to buy products from those producers. Expenses of farmers and food producers will increase. Not following the national standard creates confusions in the publics mind regarding the food products. Therefore, the sale of that product is done in a state without following the various laws of labelling. Considerations Regarding Ethical Issues Revision of the current country labelling framework has the ability, to improve the information available to consumers and provides clarity for business. Consumers have reported that, labels on the food products are often hard to find and difficult to understand. For these types of issues, businesses must study that what type of information must be provided. There are no such requirements to study that how that information should look. Businesses should use different words and some use their own images. Some businesses have license to use the Australian made logo (the kangaroo in a triangle) to identify their products as Australian (Bates, Blair, Jerme, 2007). There are some types of food about which consumers are more value origin information, products are: - Fruit and vegetables Meat and meat products Dairy products Fruit and vegetable juices Flour products Bread Sugar Edible Oils Prioritization of food is based on personal values of consumers and is not necessarily indicative of quality, health and safety risks, relative size of the import market. Food labelling helps the consumers in deciding or selecting the food of their requirements, by providing them a lot of information related to that product. The various advantages of labelling are: - Food labels may tell consumers about the quality of the product. Method of using the product. Advantages and Disadvantages of the product. Risks due to misuse of the product. It tells about the place and method of manufacturing. Conclusion Labelling on food products is important for the consumers, because labelling helps in the comparing between a large number of similar products. It tells us about various properties of the products that are on sale to the public. Labelling of food products includes nutritional information which helps consumers to check which food they elect to purchase. The specifications relating to allergens are well described. Labelling laws help the consumers to move in a direction which is good for them, further making it important for the companies to provide various selections for fear of losing business. One of the best systems is the GDA system. GDA system provide consumers with a lot of information about their food products and helps them to understand the measure of their food products. Therefore, we can say that labelling of food products effects positively on buyer motives now a days. Bibliography Australia, C. o. (2016). Current issues: New food labelling laws. Current issues: New food labelling laws. Retrieved from https://www.agriculture.gov.au/ag-farm-food/food/regulation-safety/current-issues Bates, T., Blair, A., Jerme, E. (2007). Executive Summary from the Genetically Modified Organism Exploratory Committee. Executive Summary from the Genetically Modified Organism Exploratory Committee. Retrieved from https://www.macalester.edu/~montgomery/gmos2.htm FAO. (2015, April 19). Food labelling can provide consumers with the information they need and desire to make food choices. Retrieved from https://www.fao.org: https://www.fao.org/ag/humannutrition/foodlabel/en/ Thompson, P. B. (1993). Ethical Issues Facing the Food Industry. Texas AM University, Center for Biotechnology. Retrieved from https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/26567/1/24010012.pdf Zealand, F. S. (2015, December). Labelling: Food standards. Labelling: Food standards. Retrieved from https://www.foodstandards.gov.au/industry/labelling/Pages/default.aspx