Imported pork products and confusing labelling standards are making it difficult for Australian producers to stand out from the crowd, says leading Australian butcher, Adam Stratton.
Stratton, runs the Tender Value Meats chain in Sydney and is urging consumers to buy local products when doing their Christmas ham shopping.
"Around 22 million kilograms of ham is sold in Australia at Christmas time, but unfortunately, not all of that is sourced from Australia.
"It is important that customers know that the ham they serve for Christmas lunch might have spent three months on a boat being shipped in from overseas," he said.
Stratton said the vast majority of Australians prefer to buy Australian made and produced goods, but are often confused by misleading labelling.
"Ninety percent [of Australians] would rather buy Australian products, and the labelling on the packaging should be more clear about what's imported and what isn’t," he told Food magazine.
"[For example], on the back of a packet it might say ‘Made from local and imported ingredients’ and the local ingredients are the salt and the water, when they cure it here, but the imported product is the actual ham. So it gets a bit confusing."
Stratton is urging producers and consumers to embrace the pink Australian PorkMark logo, which guarantees the product is exclusively Australian.
"If we're going to be fair dinkum and we want people to buy Australian we need to label them correctly and not leave silly little loopholes … What you’ve got to look for is the pink Australian pork label. That is a 100 percent guarantee that it's an Australian product. If you want to buy Australian, look for that pink sticker," he said.