Where's it from?

We went shopping and found many examples of confusing country-of-origin labelling. Always read labels carefully - many products aren't as they seem.

Oil miles

If you're buying extra-virgin olive oil from Italy you need to check the labels carefully. Italy can't produce enough olives to meet its own demand, let alone that of other countries - so the chances are it's not made from Italian olives at all.

Lupi says it's "Imported from Italy". This gives the impression the olives are grown in Italy but it probably only means the oil is bottled there. Rizzoli is more upfront: its label says "Bottled in Italy". If you're looking for olive oil made with Italian olives look for "Product of Italy" or "Produced and bottled in Italy".

Local icons

Wattie's tomato sauce is a Kiwi icon ... but don't assume it's always Kiwi-made. Tomato sauce in a can is made in New Zealand; but sauce in a squeeze bottle is made in Australia.

Wattie's baked beans are "Made in NZ". How is this possible when the navy beans used to make baked beans aren't grown in New Zealand? According to the Commerce Commission a place of origin can be defined as the country where the product was created in its final form.

• "Made in NZ" means the product was grown or processed here from ingredients that could have come from anywhere.
  
  
• "Product of NZ" means it was grown or produced and made here.

Producer boards

Consumer member Margaret Flux contacted us about Zespri-branded kiwifruit she bought in Upper Hutt. Margaret likes to buy New Zealand produce and she assumed the kiwifruit was from here because the fruit carried Zespri New Zealand stickers. When she got home she noticed there were three labels and some fruit had two stickers. Checking the internet she found one label was for Spanish kiwifruit.

The Zespri label is a quality logo and doesn't guarantee the country of origin. The same goes for ENZA-branded products. Both Zespri and ENZA grow fruit in other countries. This fruit may be imported when New Zealand-grown fruit isn't available.

Telling porkies

The Commerce Commission has in the past issued formal warnings to Goodman Fielder and Premier Bacon Company about the country-of-origin labelling for their bacon and ham products.

In the Commission's opinion, the impression created by the labelling was that Kiwi bacon and Premier bacon and ham products were made in New Zealand from home-grown pork. However, a significant amount of the pork was imported.

As a result both companies have changed either their labels or the sourcing of their product. Premier now says its bacon is made in the Wairarapa from local and imported ingredients. Kiwi Bacon now uses pork that's 100 percent New Zealand-grown.