Page 7 - Food & Drink Business August 2018

Sustainability whip to crack
Clearer sugar
labelling on
the cards
CONSUMER group Choice has thrown its support behind a federal government move towards clearer sugar labelling.
The Federal Government’s new options paper on added sugar includes suggestions of visual labelling of teaspoons of sugar on sugar-sweetened beverages.
Choice’s campaigns and policy team lead Katinka Day said these options would allow Australians to make genuinely informed decisions as to their sugar intake.
“Labelling added sugar in the nutritional information panel and ingredient list is essential, as are visuals,” she said.
Day said some teenagers were consuming 38 teaspoons of added sugar per day, equivalent to the sugar in four cans of Coke.
“It’s essential we have labelling that allows people to easily identify the high level of sugar in these products, rather than letting companies get away with hiding this information in opaque statements on the back of packets,” she said.
“At the moment you have to be a food scientist to identify added sugars in processed foods.
“People in Australia have no clear way of knowing how much sugar has been added to a food.”
The options paper follows continued advocacy from Choice and a 2017 report which found that if consumers could identify added sugars on food packs they could avoid 26 teaspoons of sugar each day and up to 38.3 kilograms a year.
A decision on sugar labelling sits with state, territory and federal food and health ministers, who will meet later this year to identifyasolution. ✷
NEWS
THE Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO) is shining the torch on Australian businesses failing to meet their sustainable packaging obligations.
After auditing several thousand businesses with a turnover of more than $5 million, the APCO will then notify them of their need to comply with the sustainable packaging obligations outlined in the National Environmental Protection (Used Packaging Materials) Measure 2011 (NEPM).
The Sustainability Brand Audit aids in the APCO’s goal of making packaging 100 per cent reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025.
The target was announced by Australia’s Environment Ministers in April, and the APCO is currently developing a
national roadmap to help participants deliver on it.
Businesses
liable under the
NEPM include
any
organisation
with an
annual
turnover of
$5 million or more, that is either in the supply chain of consumer packaging or a retailer.
APCO CEO Brooke Donnelly said reaching the landmark target will require “a complete transformation” of how society thinks about packaging.
“Businesses play a crucial role in making this target a reality,” she said.
“There are a number of basic packaging requirements that all Australian businesses are required to meet – and these
are outlined in the NEPM.
“One of our responsibilities is
to notify businesses who aren’t meeting these basic obligations and provide them with the tools, resources and pathways to track and improve their packaging sustainability.”
The APCO recently completed a two-month consultation process with members and key stakeholders to better understand what industry requires to bring the targettolife. ✷
Fairtrade praises slavery crackdown
A draft bill for the Modern Slavery Act has been released as part of a move to make more Australian businesses accountable.
The Australian Government’s Modern Slavery Bill 2018, now before Parliament, will require more than 3000 large companies to publish annual statements on their actions to address modern slavery in their supply chains and operations.
Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand CEO Molly Harriss Olson said stamping out modern slavery will give ethical businesses a competitive edge.
“It will transform our supply chains, and ensure everyone shares in the benefits of prosperity,” she said.
The Global Slavery Index estimates 45.8 million people in 167 countries are in some form of modern slavery – whether forcedlabour,debtbondage,or
exploitative work.
Assistant Minister for Home
Affairs Alex Hawke said the requirements will “foster a ‘race to the top’ culture that will ensure Australia is a regional and world leader”.
Harriss Olson also applauded the Australian Government’s commitment to publish its own annual statement on possible modern slavery risks in Commonwealth procurement.
Nestlewasamongthoseto
make a submission to the joint standing committee on foreign affairs and trade as part of a federal inquiry into slavery.
The company said that from time to time, its responsible sourcing audits uncovered incidents of forced labour and modern slavery along its supply chain. The Woolworths Group also announced it would roll out a revamped ‘responsible sourcing program’ over the next 18months. ✷
www.foodanddrinkbusiness.com.au | August 2018 | Food&Drink business | 7