[Doggie 1]

Melamine in baby milk powders - I avoid Chinese foods at all costs except at Chinese restaurants where I have absolutely no idea what I'm eating, but it tastes good.

Nine out of ten times the stray dog's and cats in the area

lol. I went for the more subtle route of this comment

 
To Rick,subtle is not a word in the English dictionary.

[Just Rick]

Melamine in baby milk powders - I avoid Chinese foods at all costs except at Chinese restaurants where I have absolutely no idea what I'm eating, but it tastes good.

Nine out of ten times the stray dog's and cats in the area

lol. I went for the more subtle route of this comment

 
To Rick,subtle is not a word in the English dictionary.

I do too it is spelt SLEDGEHAMMER 

[TheReaper]

Melamine in baby milk powders - I avoid Chinese foods at all costs except at Chinese restaurants where I have absolutely no idea what I'm eating, but it tastes good.

Nine out of ten times the stray dog's and cats in the area

lol. I went for the more subtle route of this comment

 
To Rick,subtle is not a word in the English dictionary.

I do too it is spelt SLEDGEHAMMER 

hahaha

[Surferdude]

It's pretty easy to select Australian products. They have to be labelled.
And if you stay away from "house" brands, you are supporting Australian producers.
But always read the fine print. A lot od stuff is for some odd reason packaged in NZ.
And if you want a really good Golden Delicious apple - full sized and packed with juice - go to Singapore and try any fruit shop along Orchard Avenue.

[beerman]

Saying stay away from house brands is a bit deceptive. Woolies and Coles now have home brand Australian Beetroot. In my checks across all the major stores it is the ONLY Australian made beetroot on the shelves.

You need to keep Aldi and IGA in the game, God help us if Woolies and Coles are the only shows in town.....

[rustynutz]

It's pretty easy to select Australian products. They have to be labelled.

Not so easy when many products are labelled "made in Australia" but contain local & imported ingredients.... 

And if you stay away from "house" brands, you are supporting Australian producers.

You may be doing yourself (and Australia) a disservice by avoiding "house brands" as there are actually quite a few Australian products used.
Just recently Woolworths have said that their house brand labelled canned apples, pears, peaches and apricots would be sourced from Australian growers. Coles have a similar deal in place.

I'd suggest looking for the "made in Australia" label, also check to see if it's also made from Australian ingredients.

This site may be worth a look also...Welcome to Australian Made - The Australian Made Campaign

[Surferdude]

Saying stay away from house brands is a bit deceptive. Woolies and Coles now have home brand Australian Beetroot. In my checks across all the major stores it is the ONLY Australian made beetroot on the shelves.

You need to keep Aldi and IGA in the game, God help us if Woolies and Coles are the only shows in town.....

I do support Aldi.
And, yes I'm aware that some of the house brands are Australian products.
But I'm still wary.
Why.
Think milk. The supermarket chains screw down local suppliers to a figure they can then label as a house brand made in Australia.
Like Beerman (think it's him) I buy Maleny Dairy when possible. But.......... on two occasions now, I've had it  go off before its use by date.

Both my wife and I spend a fair amount of time reading what's on the packaging. It's not hard to read betwen the lines if you're halfway intelligent and don't just take what's printed in big letters on the front.
BTW. Recently I saw Norco brand milk available. I thought it had been taken over.

[Doggie 1]

And if you want a really good Golden Delicious apple - full sized and packed with juice - go to Singapore and try any fruit shop along Orchard Avenue.

I've heard about the fruit on Orchard Avenue. 

[Phil №❶]

While I detest the obvious duopoly that exists in Oz, as a child I can remember the old corner store grocery shop, where product could sit for ages on shelves and each store had their own level of cleanliness. The smell of rodent activity was quite often evident, so you learnt to avoid those shops.

There are some advantages to high turnover of product and in their greedy attempts to take your money and make profit, slow selling items are deleted and replaced with fast moving lines.

I have spent 30 years in the food distribution industry and the brutal way that manufacturer's are treated by these two is criminal.

$ to get a product space on the shelf, $ to set the selling price, or else high price, low sales, then deletion etc. This is what needs to be investigated by an authority with the teeth to actually stamp these practices out.

Forcing these conditions on suppliers, has created an avalanche effect, where the producer get's almost no profit for all the work, risk and equipment investment to produce product here in Oz. If you dare to employ people, be prepared to pay ridiculous wages and conditions for what you get. No wonder so much is imported into this country.

[Doggie 1]

I have fifty six years' experience in the food consumption industry.

[Dazzler]

  Phil (sad but true)

BTW .. at the moment we only get WW, Coles and IGA (no Aldi or Costco etc..) 

[rustynutz]

Coles found guilty of misleading customers over freshly baked bread


SUPERMARKET giant Coles is facing more than $3 million in fines after losing a court battle over the freshness of its bread. 
 
The Federal Court agreed with the consumer watchdog’s case that Coles falsely advertised pre-cooked bread as freshly baked.

Bread from the “Cuisine Royale” and “Coles Bakery” range advertised as “fresh, baked today and sold today” included one product from Ireland first baked months earlier.

Other loaves that the company claimed were “freshly baked” were found to have been made in Denmark and Germany before being frozen and transported to Australia.

Read More: Coles found guilty of misleading customers over freshly baked bread | News.com.au

[Doggie 1]

Good result, I reckon.   

[Dazzler]

Someone in Coles Head Office sure had some half baked ideas....

[Doggie 1]

They were treating consumers as idiots and got caught.