Speaker 1: Gape took Capsalk Consumer Talk WhatsApp on seven to two
Speaker 1: five six seven one five six seven Time for Consumer Talk,
Speaker 1: and Wendy Nola is occupied elsewhere today, so we are
Speaker 1: taking the gap to bring in some expert guests who
Speaker 1: want to talk to us about something we all engage
Speaker 1: with almost every single day but really don't pay enough
Speaker 1: attention to. I'm talking about the labels on our food.
Speaker 1: Whether you are picking up a loaf of bread, reaching
Speaker 1: for that tuber yogurt in the fridge, or even looking
Speaker 1: at a box of cereal, the label has clues contained
Speaker 1: there in It tells you not only what is inside
Speaker 1: that box, but it also offers clues as to the
Speaker 1: nutritional content and the percentage of recommended daily allowances, and
Speaker 1: lots of things like that that we don't always fully
Speaker 1: understand or know how to interpret. They are there to
Speaker 1: help us make supposedly informed nutritional choices for ourselves and
Speaker 1: our families, but if we don't know what we're looking
Speaker 1: at or how to make sense of what we're reading,
Speaker 1: it doesn't really help. And then, as my producer Max
Speaker 1: pointed out this morning, of course you add in the
Speaker 1: added complication that as we get older, those labels seem
Speaker 1: to get smaller and smaller and more impossible to read.
Speaker 1: Most of us end up ignoring them a lot of
Speaker 1: the time. I have two guests joining us today who
Speaker 1: are going to tell us about the importance of reading
Speaker 1: them and what clues they give us as to what
Speaker 1: is contained in our food and how we make sense
Speaker 1: and interpret what is contained on that label. With me
Speaker 1: in studio is Roxanne McCaffrey, who is a registered dietitian.
Speaker 1: It's great to have you with us.
Speaker 2: Welcome, thank you, afternoon, Ryan.
Speaker 1: Thanks. And on the line via zoom is le Cerro Maroule,
Speaker 1: who is a lecturer in the Department of Consumer and
Speaker 1: Food Sciences at the University of Pretoria and Leseco. It's
Speaker 1: great to have you joining us as well. Welcome to
Speaker 1: the show.
Speaker 3: Good afternoon, Popa, thank you so much, and greetings to
Speaker 3: the listeners.
Speaker 1: Let's start at the very beginning, as they say, le Cercro,
Speaker 1: what are the absolute basics that a food label has
Speaker 1: to contain by law in South Africa?
Speaker 3: So I think taking a bit of a step back.
Speaker 3: Sometimes you're to look at food and say, okay, this
Speaker 3: is an apple, this is an orange. But when we
Speaker 3: come to more developed products that have certain ingredients, it's
Speaker 3: not easy to see what they will contain, and hence
Speaker 3: we focus on ingredient lists.
Speaker 4: We have information.
Speaker 3: About where the product comes from, who the manufacturer is,
Speaker 3: and that is just some of the information that I
Speaker 3: will highlight. So first and foremost, what's the name of
Speaker 3: the product. We need to know what it is, what
Speaker 3: it's called. Sometimes you might get a very complex name,
Speaker 3: perhaps accord in blue, and to somebody else they might
Speaker 3: not know what that is. But then some of these
Speaker 3: products have descriptions under them and that allows a consumer
Speaker 3: to make a decision that Okay, this is a chicken product,
Speaker 3: it's got pork in it.
Speaker 4: Is that what I want to consume.
Speaker 3: Then we get the manufacturer details, So at a worst
Speaker 3: case scenario, if you buy a product and there's a
Speaker 3: product recall, you need to know where that product is
Speaker 3: manufactured so that it can return to that vendor or
Speaker 3: that manufacturer. Often you'll also see the contact details and
Speaker 3: the address, even information as to is it a local product?
Speaker 3: Is it made in South Africa? So that is quite
Speaker 3: important in terms of traceability. Next we look at the
Speaker 3: badge number also linked to the manufacturer, so that they're
Speaker 3: able to say when this product was made, and if
Speaker 3: they have to do any type of testing, they will
Speaker 3: then get that sample of products and know that they
Speaker 3: need to look into that. I know we'll talk about
Speaker 3: the nutritional information, but yes, ultimately that is important. We
Speaker 3: all might be following certain eating preferences, whether it's for health,
Speaker 3: whether that's for intolerances, So even that nutritional information will
Speaker 3: guide us.
Speaker 4: Then the quantity.
Speaker 3: If you're buying five hundred grams, you are entitled to
Speaker 3: five hundred grams of that product, So you need to
Speaker 3: look at the quantity. And you know, sometimes we do
Speaker 3: feel like we get tricked when we buy a packet
Speaker 3: of chips and it says one hundred and twenty five
Speaker 3: grams and inside it looks like there's only a hand
Speaker 3: for But ultimately that is the quantity that they would
Speaker 3: have put in that packet.
Speaker 4: What is very important.
Speaker 3: Now, and I think this helps a consumer in terms
Speaker 3: of keeping themselves safe, is your storage instructions.
Speaker 4: And we often take that for granted.
Speaker 3: But if something says keep in dry store, keep it
Speaker 3: in dry store, then often we see it says once open,
Speaker 3: keep it in the refrigerator for a certain amount of time.
Speaker 3: So in doing that, we're able to know that our
Speaker 3: food remains safe for consumption, and if it is kept
Speaker 3: for ten days later, you shouldn't think you'll still avert
Speaker 3: any food born illnesses, which we really don't want the
Speaker 3: consumer to experience. So how to store your product is
Speaker 3: ultimately very important, whether it's frozen, refrigerated, or kept in
Speaker 3: your or covert. The next important one of the dates,
Speaker 3: and it's a big one because sometimes we look at
Speaker 3: the sell buy or expiration date or the best before
Speaker 3: date and we think that's information for us as a consumer.
Speaker 4: The truth is it has nothing to do with us.
Speaker 3: Based before dates is a promise by the manufacturer or
Speaker 3: whoever provides that product, to say this product is at
Speaker 3: its best before this date. It's a quality promise, and
Speaker 3: that's why it is more for the retailer. Then we
Speaker 3: often get manufactured dates, also more linked to the retailer
Speaker 3: for traceability, to say this is when this product was made.
Speaker 4: Then another one that we get is the sell by date.
Speaker 3: Again, sal buy doesn't mean if I eat it the
Speaker 3: day after, something is going to go wrong. But you
Speaker 3: often will find that retailers will either take that product
Speaker 3: off the shelf or we also see these products these
Speaker 3: days being marked down and sold at a lower price. Yeah,
Speaker 3: and that ultimately should help us with not wasting food, right,
Speaker 3: especially if that is an initiative from the retailer. But ultimately,
Speaker 3: with these dates, it's quality more. It's more about quality,
Speaker 3: and it's also just for the manufacturers with therefore casting
Speaker 3: to know how to rotate those commodities in their stores.
Speaker 4: Okay, I'm almost that the.
Speaker 3: Bigger one, and I think the core as.
Speaker 4: It would be the ingredients.
Speaker 3: So, like I said, we all purchase and consume for
Speaker 3: different reasons, and the ingredients, which is usually on the
Speaker 3: back of pack label, allows us to see what is
Speaker 3: there and in what quantities. The ingredients are listed in
Speaker 3: descending order. So if you have something that is listed
Speaker 3: first that product and that ingredient has a higher composition
Speaker 3: first in that particular product, and then thereafter it's all
Speaker 3: the other ingredients and in the lesser quantities. Why this
Speaker 3: is important, and I think I'll give an example closer
Speaker 3: to home.
Speaker 4: My father doesn't drink cool drink anymore.
Speaker 3: Yeah, that are too matter when he was young, so
Speaker 3: now he's on juice, but he insists on one hundred
Speaker 3: percent of orange juice. Now with certain products we know
Speaker 3: or certain brands, we can trust that it's one hundred
Speaker 3: percent orange juice.
Speaker 4: But now some products will say.
Speaker 3: Orange food juice, and what that means is that there
Speaker 3: might be other types of fruit juice in that product.
Speaker 3: But looking at the bad label, we'll tell you that
Speaker 3: sixty seventy eighty percent is truly orange juice, and then
Speaker 3: the other components will also be there. This is not
Speaker 3: meant to mislead the consumer, because ultimately we're looking for
Speaker 3: good quality, tasty products and those other ingredients might just enhance.
Speaker 4: The orange juice. But if you are.
Speaker 3: Strictly looking for something that is one hundred percent of something,
Speaker 3: that should be listed first, and often it's in brackets
Speaker 3: with the percentage of how much it is within that
Speaker 3: particular product. So that's quite an important thing to be
Speaker 3: able to see what ingredients are in what you might
Speaker 3: be avoiding based on even how comes. So some people
Speaker 3: will be avoiding chili if you have perhaps ulcers, you
Speaker 3: can see that from the back of pack label. If
Speaker 3: you are glutant, intolerant, or experienced ciliac disease, you will
Speaker 3: see that from the back of pack label. Some of
Speaker 3: the symbols I think we'll just touch on that too,
Speaker 3: that most manufacturers should if not symbols rather, but the
Speaker 3: words that should be on packages will tell you about
Speaker 3: the allergies. So common allergies peanuts, te nuts, eggs. Some
Speaker 3: people are allergic to eggs. There are sulfites in products
Speaker 3: which will play the role of being preservatives. Shellfish a
Speaker 3: big allergy, soy and often will see that there is
Speaker 3: cow's milk or any dairy in a product, So that
Speaker 3: will be for various reasons, but ultimately that information is
Speaker 3: there to protect the consumer because at a worst case scenario,
Speaker 3: if there is a true allergy, it is threatening to
Speaker 3: the health. Sometimes it's an intolerance like lactose. You don't
Speaker 3: want to be uncomfortable for having consumed something, yet you
Speaker 3: are lactose intolerant. And then a little bit with the
Speaker 3: other labeling has to do with religious consumption dietary laws.
Speaker 3: So if you think of the Jewish dietary laws, you
Speaker 3: will find a symbol that says this is safe to
Speaker 3: consume and is regarded as kosher. Same with the Islamic
Speaker 3: dietary laws. If something has been produced and in the
Speaker 3: right manufacturing plant, you will you will see a symbol
Speaker 3: that says it is allowed certified. Yeah, so that will
Speaker 3: help consumer say, Okay, this is not this is not
Speaker 3: aligned to what I believe in. I shouldn't be consuming
Speaker 3: pork or dairy and meat at the same time, and
Speaker 3: any other religious laws that we tend to follow. And
Speaker 3: then you'll know from looking at the ingredient list at
Speaker 3: the back not to purchase that product. But now that's
Speaker 3: the majority.
Speaker 1: Thanks, and that's a really comprehensive list. Thank you, Lisho,
Speaker 1: and please stay with us, don't go away. We're going
Speaker 1: to take a very short break and then come back
Speaker 1: with some listener follow up questions and then a dietitian's
Speaker 1: perspective on interpretation of all of those symbols and lists,
Speaker 1: et cetera that you've explained to us so well. So
Speaker 1: please stay with us, and if you'd like to ask
Speaker 1: a question, as many are already doing, send a WhatsApp
Speaker 1: to seven two five sixty seven one five six seven.
Speaker 4: Join the conversation. Join the conversation you're with Kate talk.
Speaker 1: We continue to the far more serious topic of food labels,
Speaker 1: and it is a serious topic. We don't do enough
Speaker 1: reading of them, and Keith I absolutely agree with you
Speaker 1: a lot of the time the font size on the
Speaker 1: package is so small you can't read it.
Speaker 4: You get to a.
Speaker 1: Certain age and you either permanently have the glasses on,
Speaker 1: or like me, you've permanently reaching you for your phone
Speaker 1: to take a photograph and magnify the label so you
Speaker 1: can actually read it. Dennis thinks food manufacturers should just
Speaker 1: have a QR code instead of all that fine prints,
Speaker 1: and then it can just be read from your phone. Dennis,
Speaker 1: I think if we did that, nobody would read any
Speaker 1: of it. Ever, I suspect, so I don't know that
Speaker 1: I agree with you. I don't think I would be
Speaker 1: engaged enough to take up my phone, scan a QR
Speaker 1: code and then read the fine print. I suspect I
Speaker 1: probably wouldn't. Maybe that's a sign that I'm lazy.
Speaker 4: But there we go.
Speaker 1: Just to remind of our guests with us on zoom
Speaker 1: Le Serra Maroule, who is a lecturer in the Department
Speaker 1: of Consumer and Food Sciences at the University of Pretoria
Speaker 1: and before the news BREAKSECU did a very good job
Speaker 1: outlining for us what has to appear on our food
Speaker 1: labels in South Africa. Listening in in studio was Roxanne McCaffrey,
Speaker 1: who is a registered dietitian, and I want to pick
Speaker 1: her brain a little bit about interpreting what all of
Speaker 1: that information tells us and making better choices when we
Speaker 1: make choices. As Parlo correctly says, the more unprocessed food
Speaker 1: we buy, the less we need to worry about any
Speaker 1: of the labels. A clove of garlic doesn't need a
Speaker 1: contents label, says Parlo and Bakov And he's absolutely right,
Speaker 1: isn't he love you to have you with us, and
Speaker 1: thank you so much for joining us this afternoon. A
Speaker 1: lot of people would deliberately try to avoid the overprocessed,
Speaker 1: the over salted, over sugared, high fat content foods et
Speaker 1: cet trend. For them, reading these labels is absolutely essential information.
Speaker 1: Do you want to tell us a little bit about
Speaker 1: the kind of red flags nutritionally that we should be
Speaker 1: looking out for.
Speaker 2: Yes, thank you, Papa, So red flags. Obviously we all
Speaker 2: choose food for different types of reasons, but from a
Speaker 2: health point of view, obviously we want to have a
Speaker 2: look at your nutritional table. So most products will have
Speaker 2: a nutritional table on fun facts. It's actually not mandatory
Speaker 2: by the law. It is only mandatory if you make
Speaker 2: a nutrition related claim. So if you are saying loan
Speaker 2: fat high in fiber, then you have to put the
Speaker 2: nutritional table on. Otherwise you can include it voluntarily, which
Speaker 2: most people or companies do for consumer knowledge. So we
Speaker 2: want to know what we buying from the nutritional table.
Speaker 2: We want to have a look at the recommended serving
Speaker 2: I would say is very important how much of this
Speaker 2: food should we be eating. If your serving size is
Speaker 2: really small for the amount that you plan on eating,
Speaker 2: then it's probably not the best food to eat all
Speaker 2: the time, because your serving size is chosen on what
Speaker 2: is nutritionally appropriate, Okay. And then secondly, the ingredient list
Speaker 2: like less sacramention is very important, not only for allergies
Speaker 2: and tolerances those types of things, but if sugar is
Speaker 2: your verse, second or third ingredient, you know it's in
Speaker 2: the highest quantity, you know, So having a look at
Speaker 2: what is first an ingredient is going to be the
Speaker 2: majority of what is in that food.
Speaker 1: I'm so glad you mentioned the serving size issue. So
Speaker 1: the giant bag of hurryboor jelly bears, which I'll probably
Speaker 1: find if you only have the four, five, six or
Speaker 1: seven bears, that are actually the recommended serving portion. It's
Speaker 1: going to be a completely different story if you're eating
Speaker 1: twenty seven, twenty eight, twenty nine of them in one go,
Speaker 1: as some of us would do if we allowed ourselves to.
Speaker 1: I mean, and that's something people own. Look, I mean,
Speaker 1: quite often that information is given in a serving size
Speaker 1: and in a grams per hundred grams sort of format.
Speaker 1: Is it important to take notes of both of those?
Speaker 1: I think a lot of people get overwhelmed and don't
Speaker 1: really know which one they should pay heed to.
Speaker 2: Yes, so all tables at least need to have per
Speaker 2: hundred grams and per serving. So one hundred grams is
Speaker 2: nice when you're comparing two of the same food stuffs.
Speaker 2: If you're comparing two different cereals, it's nice to look
Speaker 2: at per hundred grams differences between them, which one's higher
Speaker 2: in fiber, which one's higher in protein. But then it's
Speaker 2: also important to take into consideration you're recommended serving size.
Speaker 2: If you're going to eat more of the one or
Speaker 2: the other serving size is lower, then you know it's
Speaker 2: important to take that into consideration when you're comparing them.
Speaker 1: Okay, you've mentioned sugar, you've mentioned salt, you've mentioned fat.
Speaker 1: The one sort of hidden thing that people tend to
Speaker 1: gloss over because they don't really understand it is when
Speaker 1: they see a label that's got a long chemical compound name.
Speaker 1: I mean, it's sort of kind of nonsensically a way
Speaker 1: to put that on there, because not all of us
Speaker 1: know what triglamorophosphide, you know, BC fifteen represents, and making
Speaker 1: that up by the way, but anything you'd like to
Speaker 1: say about that. Are there particular ones that we should
Speaker 1: be alert to that are sort of hiding in plain
Speaker 1: sight that are actually not the greatest thing to be
Speaker 1: putting into your body.
Speaker 2: Yes, So, actually the regulations do try help consumers a
Speaker 2: little bit. So they do say that additives, certain additives
Speaker 2: can be listed by their category names, so what they
Speaker 2: are used for. So instead of that long chemical name,
Speaker 2: they can just call it emulsifier or anti caking agents,
Speaker 2: raising agents, which helps the consumer understand why that compound
Speaker 2: is being put into the food. And then there is
Speaker 2: a misconception about processed the word process. Yeah, agreed, we
Speaker 2: should all be eating more whole foods, fruits, vegetables, but
Speaker 2: there is a place for processed food where it needs
Speaker 2: to be processed in order to last long, to feed
Speaker 2: the planet, and then also for its properties.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: Those E numbers as well, they are just the compound name,
Speaker 2: and actually you have thirty something E numbers in a
Speaker 2: tomato or banana. They're actually organic compounds that are named
Speaker 2: with an E. They are not necessarily harmful or are
Speaker 2: to hurt you, you know.
Speaker 1: Yes, it's important to know eat them all the time.
Speaker 2: No, but they are not necessarily the worst thing.
Speaker 4: You know.
Speaker 2: They actually are added for a specific sensory reason into
Speaker 2: the food.
Speaker 1: Now, Stephen asking if you could please, are the one
Speaker 1: thing he sees on a label and doesn't really understand.
Speaker 1: It's the two part questions. But the first part is this,
Speaker 1: what is meant by reconstituted food? How would you interpret
Speaker 1: that phrase?
Speaker 2: Yes, so, actually the regulations say that you have to
Speaker 2: indicate if a ingredient is reconstituted, and that just basically
Speaker 2: means mixed with water. So if you are adding milk
Speaker 2: powder and it's reconstituted, it's milk powder made into milk
Speaker 2: again and then added into the product reconstituted fruit juice.
Speaker 2: They taking fruit concentrate and then reconstituting till to its
Speaker 2: desired sweetness again.
Speaker 1: Okay, okay, So remember the conversation we had on Friday
Speaker 1: about freeze dried breast milk that comes out as powdered
Speaker 1: at the end of that process. It's then mixed back
Speaker 1: with water to make reconstituted breast milk effectively same process, Steve,
Speaker 1: and I hope that's clarified for you. Andre says, use
Speaker 1: the Magnifier app. Yes, I do, Andre on my phone.
Speaker 1: It's brilliant. It does help you read a food label
Speaker 1: and as cooking instructions. As you mentioned, those are two
Speaker 1: things I'm struggling with these days. If I'm using a
Speaker 1: spice mix or something like that and I need to
Speaker 1: be able to read a very tiny label. The Magnifier app,
Speaker 1: which you can download on your phone, is a huge help. Andre.
Speaker 2: You know what.
Speaker 1: My glasses are a huge help. I just have to
Speaker 1: make peace of the fact that I need to be
Speaker 1: wearing them more than I used to these days. Okay,
Speaker 1: So a comment on the WhatsApp here from one of
Speaker 1: our listeners saying burivors used to be a casing meat
Speaker 1: and fat with some herbs and spices. These days, it
Speaker 1: seems it's all sulfates phosphates, colorant, flavorance, and a host
Speaker 1: of other unknowns. Would you like to respond to that comment.
Speaker 2: Yes, So burrovors is actually under our raw processed meat
Speaker 2: regulations under the Department of Agriculture, and there are actually
Speaker 2: strict guidelines that you have to follow. For example, colorance
Speaker 2: legally cannot be added to borovorce. They may be added
Speaker 2: to other types of straw sausages, but to call something
Speaker 2: a burrivorse, you actually legally cannot put colorance in it.
Speaker 2: So that is how they try and control. I just
Speaker 2: do think that there is a gap for you know,
Speaker 2: knowing exactly the name that you're buying versus what should
Speaker 2: it shouldn't be in it.
Speaker 1: We have discussed this is Wendy Nola before, the difference
Speaker 1: between borivors and what's often marketed as brievorse. There's also
Speaker 1: restrictions or limitations and requirements in terms of fat percentage
Speaker 1: and how much can be added in terms of fillers
Speaker 1: and that sort of thing. So really it is one
Speaker 1: to watch very carefully. It's so tempting when you're rushing
Speaker 1: into the store to grab what looks like burrivorce and
Speaker 1: realize when you get home that you bought brivase or
Speaker 1: sausage as it's sometimes labeled, and it's a different thing.
Speaker 1: It's got lots more additives to it. So one thing
Speaker 1: to be very aware of, Claire saying, one issue I
Speaker 1: have is manufacturers over protecting themselves, for example with storage
Speaker 1: instructions in the same way that many clothing labels will
Speaker 1: sometimes say dry clean or cold wash only, which really
Speaker 1: isn't necessary. Sometimes the food labels seem to me equally nannyish,
Speaker 1: so they're often ignored. There's also some onus on the
Speaker 1: labelers to post accurate and practical instructions that people trust
Speaker 1: there are realistic. Would you like to respond to that comment.
Speaker 1: Do you think that that maybe they're erring on the
Speaker 1: side of being overly cautious because they don't want to
Speaker 1: have lawsuit if somebody is a little bit too lazy
Speaker 1: daisy with with how their store products.
Speaker 2: Yes, definitely, But we also need to remember the Consumer
Speaker 2: Protection Act that it needs to be understandable for all consumers.
Speaker 2: So for some people it's obvious that this tomato source
Speaker 2: goes in the fridge. Some people it's not that obvious. Yeah,
Speaker 2: so you need to reach the whole market. In South Africa.
Speaker 1: Okay, thanks An. If you would like to ask a
Speaker 1: question or keep on commenting, please send WhatsApps to seven
Speaker 1: two five six seven one five sixty seven. I wanted
Speaker 1: to just bring La Ceco back in at this point,
Speaker 1: Lea Cercro. We're hearing here about all the kinds of
Speaker 1: ways in which products are described on our labeling and
Speaker 1: the fact that there is certain terminology that can only
Speaker 1: be used under very strict conditions and certain requirements being met.
Speaker 1: In general, do you think that our food labeling laws
Speaker 1: are strict enough, too strict, not strict enough? How does
Speaker 1: South Africa compare to to other countries, and any comments
Speaker 1: on where you think we're getting it right and where
Speaker 1: perhaps there's room to improve.
Speaker 4: I do think we're fairly strict.
Speaker 3: Our food labeling is regulated by the Department of Health
Speaker 3: and under specific regulation, and I mean going through the
Speaker 3: lists of and understanding all the things that need to
Speaker 3: be there. It definitely does mean that there are being
Speaker 3: held accountable. So a food label, as much as it
Speaker 3: is supposed to protect and communicate to us, it holes
Speaker 3: the manufacturer liable for anything else, and you know they
Speaker 3: there more answer to any misleading information.
Speaker 4: If I touch on the borovous example you gave.
Speaker 3: The regulation says for something to be called buravals, it
Speaker 3: needs to be ninety eight percent meat. Anything else cannot
Speaker 3: be called burovos, and that's one of our laws. It
Speaker 3: doesn't mean there's crazy other things and the other types
Speaker 3: of meat, but you find that there'll be more fillers,
Speaker 3: more spices, some water. I think we've all experienced that
Speaker 3: certain products when they shrink. So when it comes to
Speaker 3: calling something correctly and putting the right description and labeling,
Speaker 3: I do think our regulations hold up to that. Something
Speaker 3: that happened I think two years ago with plant based items,
Speaker 3: they had to change their labeling altogether because they would
Speaker 3: say plant based beef sausage, for example, it is not
Speaker 3: a beef sausage.
Speaker 4: So they needed to read.
Speaker 3: Buying the terminology to say, yes, this is a plant
Speaker 3: based product, but you cannot equivolate it to something that
Speaker 3: it isn't. And I think they had a couple of
Speaker 3: months to switch it up, but that was holding them
Speaker 3: accountable to communicate the right information to the consumer and
Speaker 3: not to mislead them. In terms of other countries, I think,
Speaker 3: and even when we see in South Africa a lot
Speaker 3: of our products because we come from big FMCG companies
Speaker 3: will have all the interpretive labels and other languages, so
Speaker 3: we generally do share similar restrictions in terms of what
Speaker 3: should be in our products.
Speaker 4: And whether I'm here.
Speaker 3: Or in the US or in Portugal, I can still
Speaker 3: buy the same product. What will be different is where
Speaker 3: was that product made? And I have access to that information.
Speaker 3: So I do think we're pretty.
Speaker 1: Strict now on that note, Christopher asking. Thanks for asking, Christopher,
Speaker 1: because I wanted to know as well, where do you
Speaker 1: go if you feel somebody is being stretching the truth
Speaker 1: a little bit with their labeling, or being misleading or
Speaker 1: being non compliant if, for example, they were marketing something
Speaker 1: as revorce, but the label itself tells us that the
Speaker 1: beef content is nowhere near the figure you've just quoted us,
Speaker 1: Where does one reflag that? Do you report it to
Speaker 1: the retailer, do you report it to some other body?
Speaker 1: Where do you go if you suspect either accidental non
Speaker 1: compliance or deliberate misleading of the consumer.
Speaker 3: I think it touches on what was earlier I said
Speaker 3: that one you do find customer complaint lines, and hopefully
Speaker 3: that the manufacturer does respond to that, but definitely with
Speaker 3: the Consumer Protection Act, we are able to go back
Speaker 3: and say, this is what I bought, it is not
Speaker 3: fulfilling its promises or saying what it is, and as
Speaker 3: a consumer you are hold you are protected, and the
Speaker 3: manufacturer will then be held accountable to address that.
Speaker 1: And actually, just a couple of months ago, thank you
Speaker 1: to the person finding this. Wendy Knoler actually looked at
Speaker 1: a case of somebody who was marketing extra lean beef
Speaker 1: well beef mins that was only lean, but it was
Speaker 1: being labeled and priced as extra lean beef mins, and
Speaker 1: she took it up with the retailer who was selling it,
Speaker 1: and they did acknowledge the fact that there was far
Speaker 1: too much fat in the so called extra leine mints,
Speaker 1: and that the customer had been charged incorrectly and supplied
Speaker 1: the wrong product, and they did make good on that
Speaker 1: particular case and also sort of pledged themselves to doing
Speaker 1: better on their labeling going forward. So that's at retailer level,
Speaker 1: or if that hadn't worked, if you'd gone in and said, listen,
Speaker 1: you sold me this mince and claimed it was extra lean.
Speaker 1: But I've done my own measurements and with my naked eye,
Speaker 1: I can see that it's seventy percent beef, not ninety something.
Speaker 1: If they won't help, if they won't acknowledge that they've
Speaker 1: made a mistake or misled, you do you go to
Speaker 1: the National Consumer Commission as your next step? What's the
Speaker 1: next sort of phase if the retailer themselves won't take accountability.
Speaker 3: I think it definitely is a tricky one with going
Speaker 3: to the consumer protection bodies. Another avenue if the because
Speaker 3: and it isn't the nature of the product right, If
Speaker 3: I'm bindments from a specific retailer and it's made on
Speaker 3: that premises they are, they can push back and say
Speaker 3: we're not going to do anything, and then it would
Speaker 3: be different from a product that's made by a big
Speaker 3: FMCG where you can report it. And because we have
Speaker 3: big NPD new product development departments as well as food scientists,
Speaker 3: they will test the product and have to report that
Speaker 3: back to the consumer. So I fortunately you worked in
Speaker 3: new product development and when we did get those complaints,
Speaker 3: we had to go test the product and then communicate
Speaker 3: back to the customer that you know what, you're right.
Speaker 3: Maybe a voulu or so was given, but then it
Speaker 3: goes back to labeling and checking the labeling to communicate correctly.
Speaker 3: So yes, Unfortunately, when we do get our retailer saying
Speaker 3: I'm not going to do anything about it, we ultimately
Speaker 3: will make a change in our purchase decision never to
Speaker 3: return there, but definitely where there are food sigeists and
Speaker 3: research and development in place, that will be retested and
Speaker 3: corrected and they will then you know, a judged accordingly.
Speaker 1: Okay, Just to clarify the Burrivors, I think you said
Speaker 1: ninety eight percent. It's ninety percent is the minimum meat
Speaker 1: regulation I think. And because somebody immediately sent me a
Speaker 1: copy of a copy of the label of their woolies
Speaker 1: Forurrivors saying what did a quick google, I think that
Speaker 1: was a miss, just a miss, miss speaking. They're ninety
Speaker 1: percent minimum beef or pork, whatever the meat content is,
Speaker 1: but it can't be any less than that and still
Speaker 1: be marketed as Burrivors. So quick on the mark with
Speaker 1: your WhatsApp to me, Thank you to the listener who
Speaker 1: sent that through. What you have sent me is just
Speaker 1: in line with the absolute minimum required to market something
Speaker 1: as Burrivors. We're taking another short break. We'll be back
Speaker 1: after this with our two guests Leer Maroule and Roxanne McCaffrey.
Speaker 1: If you've got any last questions, do pop through a
Speaker 1: WhatsApp to seven to five six seven one seven. This
Speaker 1: is ketal right. Just to wrap up our conversation around
Speaker 1: food labeling, thank you very much Stephen for another question,
Speaker 1: and that that that maybe Roxanne would like to respond
Speaker 1: to Stephen's wondering about how eggs are measured and categorized
Speaker 1: into large, extra large, et cetera. Is it based on weight, Roxane? Sorry,
Speaker 1: what's your name for a second there, Yes, it is.
Speaker 2: It's based on weight. There is a specific regulation again,
Speaker 2: it categorizes eggs according to certain conditions. That's how you
Speaker 2: also get the grading of eggs. It's a very specific
Speaker 2: criteria that they have to follow.
Speaker 1: Okay, So based on the weight of the egg, Stephen,
Speaker 1: is the short answer.
Speaker 4: Okay.
Speaker 1: Just in closing, Roxanne, we were just chatting during the
Speaker 1: break and you pointed out to me that that there
Speaker 1: are new proposed legislator laws on the table around front
Speaker 1: of package labeling. This is all still very much sttle
Speaker 1: in discussion. Point it's not legislated yet, but how significant
Speaker 1: are those is going to be? What stands out for
Speaker 1: you as as newsworthy and what is being proposed.
Speaker 2: Yes, so there will well the draft proposers front of
Speaker 2: pack warnings, so what it looks like, it's like a
Speaker 2: little black triangle and will have to be on the
Speaker 2: corner of certain packages that are over in sugar, salt,
Speaker 2: contained sweetness, fat and you know, so that consumers can
Speaker 2: be aware of that. There's a twofold to this. It
Speaker 2: does have the goal of educating consumers that it's going
Speaker 2: to be large. Front of pack catches your eye. Consumers
Speaker 2: know exactly what they are actually purchasing. But I think
Speaker 2: it oppositely it also, you know, we have the risk
Speaker 2: of when you make something look so scary, consumers kind
Speaker 2: of and everything has that warning on you kind of
Speaker 2: become numb to it. So there is a twofold in
Speaker 2: one fold, yes, consumers are going to be more aware.
Speaker 1: In the other fold, it just becomes background noise.
Speaker 2: It turns background noise. And some things might have to
Speaker 2: carry a warning label that actually may be beneficial and
Speaker 2: other nutrients. For example, something like a flavored milk that
Speaker 2: child mat have as a snack. You know, it's got protein,
Speaker 2: it's got calcium, it's got magnesium. Yes, it may have
Speaker 2: the sugar and carry a sugar warning, but it is
Speaker 2: beneficial in that person's diet for other reasons, so it
Speaker 2: can be a little bit more.
Speaker 1: Confusing, okay. If nothing else, though, it's a simple to say, hey,
Speaker 1: you need to pay attention to what is in this
Speaker 1: product and read the labels more carefully and take responsibility
Speaker 1: for making those choices for yourself. So thank you very
Speaker 1: much for pointing that out, Leseco. Let me put the
Speaker 1: last question to you. I'm sure you're also acutely aware
Speaker 1: of the new proposed the draft legislation around front of
Speaker 1: package labeling. Do you want to share with us what
Speaker 1: you think of the proposals or anything else that you'd
Speaker 1: really like to flag for our listeners to take away
Speaker 1: and think about when the next look at a piece
Speaker 1: of packaging around food.
Speaker 3: Yes, I do think you know a lot of the labeling,
Speaker 3: as collected as it might look. Any initial to educate
Speaker 3: the consumer more takes, you know, especially because literacy might
Speaker 3: be an issue. You know, the reading the small letters,
Speaker 3: but when there are those symbols and there are those
Speaker 3: regulations to change the front, especially because the front is
Speaker 3: your first where your eyes land, so that is a
Speaker 3: good initiative, and I do think it's something worth investing in.
Speaker 3: What I also would flag in terms of some of
Speaker 3: the things that we're seeing is when people market the
Speaker 3: organics and the free range products and understanding what that
Speaker 3: means because they are very high prices.
Speaker 4: Right.
Speaker 3: Yeah, But like we're saying, you can't make certain claims,
Speaker 3: especially nutritional claims, if certain guidelines have not been followed.
Speaker 3: So getting the right wording on the front of pack
Speaker 3: allows a consumer to make very informed decisions.
Speaker 4: But at the same time, I think.
Speaker 3: We also within our retail stores need to have that
Speaker 3: information around us and have those cues around us, and
Speaker 3: we often find it with the marketing material that we
Speaker 3: find in our retail stores. If there wasn't anything, I'm thinking,
Speaker 3: if there's anything else I wanted to flag. We did
Speaker 3: speak a bit about the additives, and you did highlight that,
Speaker 3: you know, it's not always the bad thing. Some things
Speaker 3: our flavor, and some things are colorance. Some things are
Speaker 3: there to enhance the product quantities and known as the mousifiers.
Speaker 3: Sometimes you see something like gelatine as a thickener, and
Speaker 3: gelatin is not always something that everybody should eat. But
Speaker 3: if we now find ways of using symbols rather than
Speaker 3: very long e numbers and words and being able to
Speaker 3: you know, stimulate visually what the consumer can engage with.
Speaker 3: Then one hundred percent I think it is an initiative
Speaker 3: because that's what we look at.
Speaker 4: First, we look at the front.
Speaker 3: Not everybody has the time when you're buying your mind
Speaker 3: then groceries to pick everything up and read, you know,
Speaker 3: all the information. So front of pack is a very
Speaker 3: important starting point for any legislation.
Speaker 1: Oh I thank both of our guests so much for
Speaker 1: their input this afternoon. Registered dietitian Roxanne McCaffrey, thank you
Speaker 1: for joining us in studio and La Sercra Maroule with
Speaker 1: us on Zoom Electorate in the Department of Consumer and
Speaker 1: Food Sciences at the University of Pretoria