New food labelling laws in response to the frozen berries health scare have cleared parliament.
The legislation, part of the government's country-of-origin labelling reform package, passed on Wednesday night with the support of Labor.
It's intended to give consumers a clearer understanding of where their food comes from, tackling meaningless claims like "made in Australia from local and imported ingredients" when a product may only be minimally processed in Australia.
The new laws make clear that importing ingredients and undertaking minor processes, like dicing or canning, are not enough to justify a "made in Australia" claim.
More than 30 people across Australia contracted hepatitis in 2015 after consuming the same brand of frozen berries.
Senior Labor figure Kim Carr said Labor supported the legislation because it provided certainty for industry but insisted the reforms needed to go further.
"If the new system had applied at the time of the frozen berry scare, consumers would have been none the wiser about the origins of the berries that became a matter of contention," he told parliament.
"Nonetheless, the system is better than what it has replaced."
Agriculture Minister Barnaby Joyce said the changes were a win for consumers.
"Australians want to know where their food was made or packed, and how much was sourced for Australian growers," Mr Joyce said, in a statement.
Share
