Nomination for a Shonky - Woolworths Middle Bacon - Made in Australia from 18% Australian ingredients - Ingredients Pork (90%)

SpotAShonky
1

Woolworths need to fire their Mathematicians.

As a Bunch Woolworths Tester I received a sample of Woolworths Middle Bacon for free to test and review.

I think it may be deserving of a Shonky award.

On the pack and prominently located is a Made in Australia from at least 18% Australian ingredients claim and the familiar Made in Australia logo.

However, when you look at the ingredients list, the maths simply don’t add up!

Ingredients: Pork (90%), Water, Cure (Salt, Sugar, Mineral Salts), Antioxidant, Preservative.

If the main ingredient is 90% pork how on earth can Woolworths claim that 18% of the product is Australian?

The fact that Woolworths has a Made in Australia symbol and claim with only 18% Australian content really irks me. This is totally misleading to the consumer and very dishonest on Woolworths’ behalf.

If the product is 90% pork and the Australian ingredients are 18% then you can safely assume that the pork is fully imported, unless of course they are using left over bits from Australian pork???

With Australian ingredient percentage of only 18% the country of origin should be disclosed.

Shame on you Woolworths…

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14 Likes
2

I’ll second that!

We recently purchased some Woolies middle rashers of bacon at the deli.

While it is not clear if this is the same product it is the strangest looking rasher I’ve seen. An extra long tail and a giant fatty portion like a roll next to the plump end. Also far more fat than is usual. And not the strong bacon flavour of others.

We did wonder as to it’s provenance?

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3

I was just at our local Woollies and picked up a pack of smoked prawns on special that I was tempted to try.

I then noticed the words “Made in Australia” followed by the “15% ingredients with prawns from Thailand”.

I too felt that it is misleading, and needless to say, I did not buy it.

10 Likes
4

Looks like they are following the precedent established by Aldi…last time in Aldi I noticed a lot of products with ‘made in Australia’ logos predominantly displayed on the front label, only to find the products has little if any Australian ingredients. First glance the products look Australian…detailed look indicates they are exploiting difference between Australian product and made in Australia.

This is quite possible if the bacon is a mix of some Australian bacon rashes and some imported bacon rashes. It is possible that supply of cheap Australian bacon is low, and Woolworths blends out this supply with imported rashes. The cheaper Australian rashes may be surplus supply (a manufacturer discounting product which it doesnt need), lower grade bacon (higher or lower streakiness) or bacon which may have a manufacturing defect reducing its perceived quality and price (such as the rash detaching from the rind).

It would be very difficult to determine the source of each piece of bacon …possibly DNA testing could provide the answer if all the world’s pig population had DNA profiles.

If say the product was a whole leg ham with the same percentages, this would be definitely shonky as it would not be possible to get 18%…unless there was say a technique to reinsert an Australian leg bone to a imported boneless leg ham.

9 Likes
5

There needs to be especially tough legislation for people who mess with bacon in any way …

13 Likes
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ACCC - Country of origin food labelling has the following information:

" The ‘made in’ claim means that food underwent its last substantial transformation in the country specified (this doesn’t necessarily mean that any ingredients are from that country)."

So if they receive imported pork which they then treat and slice up, the the product has undergone a substantial transformation. Therefore they may be quite legitimately using the ‘Australian Made’ label, even if only 18% of the ingredients/contents are local.

10 Likes
7

Yet another reason to go vegetarian, if not vegan.

1 Like
8

Plastic packaging.

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9

Vendors are also deceptive about the origins of fruit and vegetables and the same labelling regulations apply to the processed non-meat foods. If it is the processing step that introduces the doubt then stick to unprocessed meats, swap bacon for steak.

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particularly if you want to avoid all taste and interest in your food :slight_smile:

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Food labeling in general is a disgraceful travesty for the way in which it misleads consumers in a range of ways including ingredients, but that’s very old news. They get away with it because their stuff is priced where their target mass market can afford it. Affordability is understandably a big attraction and the majority would probably not prefer to know what’s in it or where it came from providing it satisfies their needs, particularly the sugar craving caused by their last typical meal. Fast food chain or health bar snack anyone? Seriously, how is that stuff legal to sell?

They only exist to make money, so if they’re not making money out of something they’ll stop making it. The solution is simple…complain to them and stop buying their stuff.

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12

Ha ha! Brilliant!

Wonder where the plastic was made…

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Recycled from the stuff that China rejected?

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14

recycled in china… and printed in australia?

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15

I have seen ham with the triangle stylised kangaroo/aussie logo and the wording “not more than 10% Australian”

  • Apparently we are supposed to look at how many of the little segments under the triangle are “coloured yellow” to indicate the Australian content, & in such a case, no yellow bar, but still bears the logo ! GRRRR!
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16

We never buy ham or bacon that is not 100% Australian, which means it cannot be bought at Coles or Woolies. There are, however, lots of independent outlets and larger IGAs that do sell 100% Australian pork products.

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17

Bertocchi is Australia grown and produced but is labelled as 97% or 98% Australian depending on the variety so obviously all Australian but just keeping the labelling honest.

The other varieties in Coles and Woollies range between 10% and 30% Australian content and I would not eat them at any price.

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The 3% can be the smoke flavour that’s added, the nitrates or Nitrites, some spices & seasonings, some flours and other additives so not all Australian but very close to.

4 Likes
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This is why I raised this subject.

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I havent bought bacon in ages. I need to ask the butcher where his comes from.