Woolworths shopper confused over detail on 'Made in Australia' bacon
An eagle-eyed Woolworths shopper is puzzled after noticing his bacon was labelled with “at least 21 per cent Australian ingredients”.
The man posed a question to Woolies on Facebook about the supermarket’s shortcut bacon.
“Hi Woolworths hoping you may be able to help clarify, what specifically are the Australian ingredients within your 1kg short bacon?” he wrote alongside a photo of the product.
“It states ‘made from at least 21 per cent Australian ingredients’ but also states it’s made up of 85 per cent pork which means the remaining ingredients (water, salt, preservatives etc) make up the other 15 per cent.
“So I'm very curious as to what 21 per cent is Australian and what the other 79 per cent is.”
Yahoo News contacted Woolworths for clarification. And while Woolworths explained its need to import pork, the supermarket did not give a breakdown of the Australian ingredients in the product, as requested by the customer.
“At Woolworths, we are proud to offer our customers a range of short-cut bacon products,” the supermarket’s spokesperson said.
“Like many brands, we use pork from the US and Europe for our short-cut bacon range to help keep up with consumer demand.
“In doing so, we follow strict Country of Origin requirements so customers can read the labelling and make an informed choice.”
Shoppers backing Australian-made products
The supermarket also advised it stocks another shortcut bacon variety made from “at least 98 percent Australian ingredients” and “100 per cent” of its fresh pork range is sourced locally.
In February, Coles shoppers reacted angrily to bacon sporting the “Australian Made” logo on after discovering that less than 10 per cent of its ingredients were from Australia.
However, it wasn’t an “Australian Made” logo on the packaging but actually a Country of Origin Symbol. This logo was also featured on the Woolies bacon.
Shoppers have never been more vocal about purchasing Australian-made products either.
Coles and Woolies were petitioned in April to introduce an aisle dedicated to Australian-made items.
As of Tuesday, it had more than 33,000 signatures.
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