Alcoholic beverage makers have been left out of the proposed country of origin food labelling scheme, and the cider industry is calling for a rethink.
The cider industry's peak body, Cider Australia, says it is in the interests of consumers to know where the apples and pears used in their cider are from.
“Cider and perry are traditional beverages made by fermenting the juice of apples and pears, and the quality and origin of the juice has a huge bearing on the quality of the end product,” Cider Australia president Sam Reid said.
“Fruit juice is quite rightly included on the list of foods covered by the new rules and the new labels will highlight all the imported concentrate that goes into apple juice, but Australian consumers need to be aware that the same thing happens in cider.”
Reid said not including cider in a future country of origin labelling scheme would be “a devastating blow to an industry that so strongly supports local growers and regional development”.
“We agree the existing laws are not effective, but removing cider from the scheme altogether does nothing for the Australian cider industry, growers or consumers,” Reid said.
