Admittedly I’m an Aussie living with strict rules around reporting. I joined this sub because I’m visiting the UK in summer for the first time but this post intrigued me!

Another commenter said it most succinctly: the more important part is standards compliance and adherence to regulations. But I’m going to expand on this.

TL;DR

I agree the more important issue is standards compliance and adherence to regulations, rather than just where a product comes from. Different jurisdictions have different regulatory philosophies and priorities, so transparent reporting matters for ethical, health and safety, and environmental reasons. I also believe that if a product is sold in a jurisdiction, it must meet that jurisdiction’s standards. If something doesn’t, I’m sure it can be reported.

The EU is seen to take a cautionary approach to food regulation, more so than the US for example. I’d imagine the UK is similar, though I haven’t looked into it. But as I’ve discovered today Northern Island is under EU regulations. There is just a difference in philosophies to regulation, and provided you’re comfortable with the EU’s philosophy and management of compliance, it should be fine!

I can guarantee we take our own regulations for granted here but it’s ingrained in Australian values. While the “Aussie made” green and gold kangaroo certifies that something was mostly grown in, produced in or went through “creation” in Australia, ingredients can still come from overseas provided they are compliant with our food and bio security standards and laws. The focus is on supporting the Australian economy and job market, that products meet high quality of standards, ethical labour and environmental sustainability.

Transparent reporting is therefore important for these ethical, health and safety, and environmental reasons. Given there are different standards or levels of adherence to standards in different countries, I think the reason for transparency of manufacture is about how the regulator in the manufacturing country prioritises ethics, health, safety etc over the actual food.

What a priority is for regulators can be subjective based on the jurisdiction. Australia’s SPF products are very very important because of our extremely high rate of skin cancer. Therefore we’ve got the most strictly regulated SPF industry in the world… let’s just not discuss recent media about SPF recalls.

I don’t think it’s as much about the source of produce being from a developed vs developing nation, given there are differences between regulators in developed countries. It’s evident across many different food ingredients and additives. One approach might not suit all.

An example of a food not allowed in Australia is basmati rice from Pakistan, due to contamination of pesticides that are banned from use on crops in Australia. Food Standards Australia and New Zealand are quite strict and sometimes a banned product is banned to protect our local biosecurity or agricultural industry, not necessarily that the banned outside food is “bad”. Hell, even domestically, our farming regions have biosecurity quarantine zones (literally called “fruit fly free” zones) where before entry, Department of Industry officers can inspect your car for fruit and throw it away / fine you.

Besides, is Northern Island subject to the ban on EU cheese and meat? I hope you can still get decent cheese 🧀