Consumer Protection http://johnkaye.org.au daily 1 2007-08-10T06:49:45Z NSW Coalition fails to back action on heart disease http://johnkaye.org.au/media/nsw-coalition-fails-to-back-action-on-heart-disease The refusal of the NSW Coalition to support mandatory reductions in salt, fat and sugar content in fast foods and point-of-sale labelling is a bad sign for the future of the battle against obesity and heart disease in NSW, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye. Read John's comments in the Sydney Morning Herald: 'Would you like a kilojoule count with that?', SMH page 5, 19 August.
 
Dr Kaye said: "National Party spokesperson Kevin Humphries has rejected legislation to stop quick serve restaurants fuelling the obesity epidemic.
 
"He apparently prefers the failed industry self-regulation model.
 
"While the Greens support consulting with the industry as part of the process of drafting regulations, slashing community consumption of unhealthy foods cannot be left to highly profitable fast food giants to control.
 
"Instead of pandering to their friends in the industry, the Coalition should get on board with legislation to cut the human and economic cost of cardio-vascular disease, obesity and the other high morbidity consequences of diets overloaded with salt, saturated fat and sugar.
 
"Mr Humphries has signalled that a future O'Farrell government would provide even less protection for the people of NSW than the decade and a half of inaction under Labor.
 
"At least Premier Keneally has now made the first steps with her Fast Food Forum.
 
"With the Coalition rolling over to the fast food industry, it is essential that the Labor government introduce legislation for limits on salt, fat and sugar content and point-of-sale labelling before the end of their term in office.
 
"The Greens and Labor have a majority in the Upper House and legislation could easily pass both houses of parliament.
 
"It would then be difficult for a future Coalition government to backslide once the regulations were in place.
 
"Waiting until next year will hand control of this issue to the industry with little hope of real action," Dr Kaye said.
 
For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

]]> No publisher jfield food labelling transfats consumer safe foods 2010-08-19T01:44:25Z News Item Big food's greenwash won't save Orang-utans frompalm oil death http://johnkaye.org.au/big-foods-greenwash-wont-save-orang-utans-frompalm-oil-death The peak body for Australia's food industry is trying to wash its hands of its role in the destruction of rainforest habitat of the endangered orang-utan, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye. Dr Kaye said: "The Australian Food and Grocery Council is using spin to deflect community concerns about the destruction of native rainforest in South East Asia.

"Their announcement that the AFGC have signed up to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) will do nothing to protect indigenous peoples, threatened species or native rainforest.

"RSPO is little more than a facade to cover the destructive activities of the industry in Indonesia and Malaysia. "There is much illegal land clearing in these countries. In Indonesia the involvement of the military has also led to serious human rights violations.

"Palm oil producers that have signed the RSPO have been flagrantly engaged in illegal and destructive clearing practices in Kalimantan.

"This destruction of native rainforest is wiping out habitats for many rare species, including the orang-utan and the Sumatran tiger.

"Australia's big food companies are trying to dodge their responsibilities in order to maintain a supply of cheap palm oil, even if this means death and destruction for the orang-utan.

"Their peak body, the Australian Food and Grocery Council, has been left with blood on their hands with this latest episode.

"The members of the Australian Food and Grocery Council would be better served by promoting the use of substitutes for palm oil in their products," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

]]> No publisher jktemp ethical consumption consumer 2010-07-13T00:00:39Z News Item Voluntary 'scores-on-doors' restaurant ratings will leave diners guessing http://johnkaye.org.au/voluntary-scores-on-doors-restaurant-ratings-will-leave-diners The Greens welcomed tomorrow's commencement of a trial of the scores-on-doors restaurant rating program, but have warned gaps in the program could leave diners in the dark about the quality of eateries across the state.
Greens NSW MP John Kaye said: "It is important that every food outlet is rated and its score put on view where potential customers can read and compare it with other businesses.

"Food Minister Steve Whan's voluntary system could take many years to get the majority of restaurants involved. "A compulsory scheme would immediately address NSW’s one million episodes of food poisoning caused each year by lax hygiene standards in restaurants.

"'Scores-on-doors' not only alerts consumers to the food outlets that don’t take hygiene seriously but it also puts pressure on all restaurants to improve their cleanliness.

"A compulsory system introduced in Los Angeles County in California in 1997 is credited with a 20 percent reduction in hospital admissions for food poisoning. "Restaurants rapidly improved their performance and the good ones became more profitable. "Thousands of food poisoning cases could be avoided in NSW by providing restaurant goers with immediate and clear information on inspection results.

"By making the scheme voluntary, the Minister is allowing dodgy restaurants to continue to hide their sins from customers. "Mr Whan has taken an important step forward but he has delayed the full benefits by making the scheme voluntary.

"Diners across NSW deserve the same standard of food safety as those in Los Angeles, Toronto and other cities where the food regulators have listened to the evidence and opted for compulsory scores-on-doors," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

]]> No publisher jktemp food labelling consumer 2010-06-30T04:47:20Z News Item Egg Corp should abandon push for free-range egg con http://johnkaye.org.au/egg-corp-should-abandon-push-for-free-range-egg-con The Greens are calling on the Egg Corporation to abandon their push to introduce standards that would allow chickens kept in cramped and enclosed spaces to have their eggs labelled as 'free range'
(Feathers fly over plans to ease free-range egg rules' Sydney Morning Herald 28 June 2010, http://bit.ly/d7dOJ1).

Dr Kaye said: "The Egg Corporation is pushing to increase the number of hens per hectare from 1500 to 20,000, and still have their eggs labelled as free-range. "This is a shameless attempt by the big egg producers to re-brand factory farmed eggs as free-range.

"Free-range isn't just a marketing tool. It is an ethical approach to food production that is receiving increasing support from consumers. "For the label 'free-range' to have any meaning at all the eggs must be produced in an ethical manner. "There is currently no legal definition of what constitutes a free range egg.

"The Greens are introducing legislation that would define free range at below 750 hens per hectare.

"Consumers are increasingly turning to ethical suppliers for poultry and the industry will have to adapt to this new demand to survive.

"The Egg Corporation is underestimating the intelligence of consumers and trying to set a standard so low that many effectively caged birds are able to be marketed as free-range," Dr Kaye said.

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

]]> No publisher jktemp food labelling consumer 2010-07-07T02:49:54Z News Item 'Scores-on-doors' restaurant ratings will reduce food poisoning, eventually http://johnkaye.org.au/media/scores-on-doors-restaurant-ratings-will-reduce-food-poisoning-eventually The Greens today welcomed the NSW government's move to a state-wide system for rating and displaying the hygiene standards of foodservice businesses, but warned that a voluntary scheme would take longer to deliver health benefits. Read the Sun Herald story

Greens NSW MP John Kaye said: "It is important that every food outlet is rated and its score put on view where potential customers can read and compare it with other businesses.

"Food Minister Steve Whan's voluntary system could take many years to get the majority of restaurants involved.

"A compulsory scheme would immediately address NSW's one million episodes of food poisoning caused each year by lax hygiene standards in restaurants.

"'Scores-on-doors' not only alerts consumers to the food outlets that don't take hygiene seriously but it also puts pressure on all restaurants to improve their cleanliness.

"A compulsory system introduced in Los Angeles County in California in 1997 is credited with a 20 percent reduction in hospital admissions for food poisoning. 

"Restaurants rapidly improved their performance and  the good ones became more profitable.

"Thousands of food poisoning cases could be avoided in NSW by providing restaurant goers with immediate and clear information on inspection results.

"By making the scheme voluntary, the Minister is allowing the dodgy restaurants to continue to hide their sins from customers who haven't checked the name-and-shame website. 

"Mr Whan has taken an important step forward but he has delayed the full benefits by making the scheme voluntary.

"Diners in NSW deserve the same standard of food safety as those in Los Angeles, Toronto and other cities where the food regulators have listened to the evidence and opted for compulsory scores-on-doors," Dr Kaye said.  

For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455 

 
]]> No publisher jfield safe foods restaurant inspections 2010-04-06T03:41:35Z News Item Woolworths palm oil greenwash will not stop orang-utan destruction http://johnkaye.org.au/media/woolworths-palm-oil-greenwash-will-not-stop-orang-utan-destruction Supermarket chain Woolworths is hiding the link between its products containing palm oil and the destruction of endangered orang-utans habitat and widespread human rights abuses, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye. See: Sydney Morning Herald, p. 7, 1 April 2010 or the website.

Dr Kaye said: "Instead of moving to genuinely sustainable and ethical palm oil, Woolworths has signed up to a discredited industry certification program, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO).
 
"Woolworths is hiding behind a marketing ploy that will still see native rainforest destroyed and the rights of employees and indigenous forest dwellers violated.
 
"Consumers purchasing soaps, shampoos, cosmetics and some foods are at risk of unwittingly supporting an industry that is clearing felling large tracts of tropical rainforest with appalling human rights and environmental consequences.
 
"The RSPO scheme is dominated by the palm oil industry.
 
"Plantation operators in Indonesia and Malaysia have been caught clearing rainforest despite their membership of the RSPO scheme that Woolworths has signed on to.
 
"The Roundtable has been thoroughly discredited. It has been criticised by key environmental groups Greenpeace, Friends of the Earth and ACF.
 
"WWF is on its own in supporting a scheme that has been condemned by campaigners on the ground in Indonesia for providing little more than lies to protect a business-as-usual approach by the palm oil industry.
 
"While it might help Woolworths avoid public criticism, it does nothing to address the appalling destruction of endangered species and violation of human rights that are typical of the palm oil industry. Consumers should be very wary of the RSPO certification.
 
"RSPO is dominated by an industry that is infamous for abuse of the workforce and the forest communities and disregard for impacts on endangered species like orang-utans," said Dr Kaye.
 
For more information  John Kaye 0407 195 455

]]> No publisher jfield consumer 2010-03-31T21:59:51Z News Item Feature: NSW Govt pushed DIY safety checks for controversial roof insulation http://johnkaye.org.au/media/latest-media-1/feature-nsw-govt-pushed-diy-safety-checks-for-controversial-roof-insulation The NSW government passed the buck on household safety under the Federal government’s failed roof insulation program. The NSW Office of Fair Trading’s website recommended a DIY risk assessment plan that put unqualified homeowners in charge of managing the potential fire and electrocution dangers. NSW Fair Trading Minister Virginia Judge is now crowing about a successful prosecution of one installer whose work resulted in a house fire, after her own agency effectively washed their hands of responsibility for home safety.

Introduction

While the Federal Government’s Energy Efficient Homes Package was still operating, the NSW Office of Fair Trading advised homeowners and tenants to conduct their own risk assessments for installing insulation. Households were encouraged to obtain the insulation installers’ sign off on their amateur risk assessments.

In many cases insulation installed under the Package became an electrocution and fire hazard. On average, one house fire a week was caused by incorrectly installed insulation in 2009.

The NSW Government, despite its responsibility for safety at work, allowed unqualified people to work in the confined roof crawl spaces.

The Energy Efficient Homes Package program has been suspended and the Minister responsible, Peter Garrett, effectively demoted.

Fair Trading

There is no requirement under NSW Fair Trading for insulation installers to hold qualifications in roofing installation.

Information provided by the NSW Office of Fair Trading encouraged householders to inform installers of the risks in their homes and to confirm they understood the guidelines for safe installation. 

This was in contravention of the NSW government’s own workplace safety laws, which place responsibility for the completion of risk assessments before work commences with employers.

The advice provided by the NSW Office of Fair Trading on their website[1] was for households to complete a self-assessment checklist.

There was no requirement for householders to enter their roof space to verify any of the items on the NSW Office of Fair Trading checklist.

The NSW Office of Fair Trading then encouraged households to obtain the installer’s signature on the checklist and acknowledgement of the standards for fitting insulation around potential heat sources.

Safety Checklist

Below is a copy of a section of the Office of Fair Trading checklist[2]:

Questions to ask yourself Yes No 
Does your ceiling have TV boosters or security alarms
installed in the roof space? 		    
Does your ceiling contain halogen 12 volt down lights?    
Does your ceiling contain incandescent 240 down lights?    
Does you home contain a flue from a gas heater that
goes into the roof space? 		    
Does you home contain a chimney from a fire that goes
into the roof space? 		    
Does you home have any transformers in the roof space,
for example to service a door bell or other low voltage
equipment? 		    
Does you home have high intensity heating lamps in the
bathroom? 		    
Do you have an exhaust from the kitchen or bathroom
that vents into the roof space? 		    

Risk from ceiling insulation

In 2009 over 53 house fires in NSW were attributed to incorrectly installed ceiling insulation[3]. Fifteen of these occurred in October/November 2009 following a large number of households taking up the Federal Government’s Energy Efficient Homes Package.

The program has been linked to the deaths of four roofing installers nationally.

A recent prosecution of ABC Insulation resulted in an installer receiving a  $10,000 fine for work that caused a house fire in western Sydney. Minister for Fair Trading Virginia Judge welcomed the courts decision and issued a press release over the matter. The release said that Fair Trading was investigating other installers.

Comments from John Kaye

Dr Kaye said: “It is a bit rich for Minister for Fair Trading Virginia Judge to crow over the successful prosecution of a home insulation installer.

“It was her agency that helped open the floodgates for dodgy home insulation installers by recommending do-it-yourself risk assessments to households.

“The NSW Office of Fair Trading put amateurs in charge of assessing and managing fire and electrocution risk. The Minister’s own agency failed in its duty to protect households from poorly qualified roof insulators.

“Homeowners and tenants should not have been expected to have to give installers a lesson in electrical wiring guidelines before they started work.

"The risk from working in confined spaces is well recognised. An entire section of the NSW OHS Regulations is dedicated to it, yet assessment and management was handed over to homeowners, many of whom may have never even been in their roof cavities.

“With over 70 house fires linked to poorly installed insulation in NSW last year, Minister Judge should explain why her dodgy information continues to be peddled on the Fair Trading website,” Dr Kaye said.

For more information:  John Kaye 0407 195 455

]]> No publisher jfield consumer 2010-03-12T07:35:55Z News Item Food labelling review must put consumers first http://johnkaye.org.au/media/food-labelling-review-must-put-consumers-first Consumers are being mislead and treated as lab rats by food labelling regulation that are weak and biased towards maintaining industry profits, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye. Commenting on a story in today's Sydney Morning Herald ('Made in Australia:
if only it was sown and grown here', page 9), Dr
Kaye said: "From foods that come from overseas but labelled 'Made in
Australia' to the lack of warnings about genetically engineered or
nanotechnology ingredients, consumers are being denied the right to make
healthy and ethical choices about the foods they purchase.

"The large supermarket chains and the multinational food processing
companies have called the shots and left Australians without meaningful
warning about transfats, brightly coloured artificial food dyes and salt,
sugar and fat contents.

"The food regulator's labelling inquiry has a huge task ahead if it is to
restore consumer confidence.

"The discussion paper released yesterday deals with most issues in a neutral
fashion.

"However the commentary and questions relating to the use of nanotechnology,
irradiation and genetically modified foods display a singular level of bias.

"The paper suggests that labelling of these technologies should not be
allowed to unduly inhibit their economic development.

"This is an extraordinary assertion of the right of a new technology to be
tested on consumers without their informed consent.

"Even the discussion question related to these technologies is prejudiced
against full disclosure labelling.

"The qualifier 'given the present state of scientific knowledge' pre-empts
the right of consumers to make up their own mind about their willingness to
expose themselves to risks that may not have yet been scientifically
established," Dr Kaye said.

For more information:    John Kaye 0407 195 455

]]> No publisher jfield food labelling safe foods 2010-03-08T05:01:12Z News Item Queensland beating NSW in race to safer restaurants http://johnkaye.org.au/media/queensland-beating-nsw-in-race-to-safer-restaurants NSW Food Minister Steve Whan failing to provide diners with world-leading 'scores on doors' protection from food poisoning, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye. Commenting on a story in today's Sydney Morning Herald ('Hygiene scorecard for eateries', page 7), Dr Kaye said: "Two city councils in Queensland are moving to follow international best practice and post hygiene inspection score cards on the doors on restaurants.

"Thousands of food poisoning cases in NSW could be avoided by providing restaurant goers with immediate and clear information on inspection results.

"The Queensland scoring system will not only alert potential diners to businesses that have cut corners on food safety. It will also put pressure on restaurants to clean up their act and maintain high standards of hygiene.

"Former Minister Ian Macdonald hid behind his so-called 'name-and-shame' website while ignoring the international evidence that score-on-doors reduces illness and improves profits for restaurants that do the right thing.

"A similar system introduced in Los Angeles County in California in 1997 is credited with a 20 percent reduction in hospital admissions for food poisoning.

"Restaurants rapidly improved their performance and  the good ones became more profitable.

"Diners in NSW deserve the same standard of food safety as those in Brisbane, Los Angeles, Toronto and other cities where the food regulators have listened to the evidence and opted for scores-on-doors.

"The Keneally government is ignoring the urgent need to reduce the 1 million cases of food poisoning each year caused by outlets that don't maintain high standards," Dr Kaye said.

For more information:    John Kaye 0407 195 455

]]> No publisher jfield consumer safe foods restaurant inspections 2010-02-22T03:35:33Z News Item NSW govt sacrifices food safety for elderly and sick http://johnkaye.org.au/media/nsw-govt-sacrifices-food-safety-for-elderly-and-sick The NSW government has handed the policing of food safety in aged-care facilities and other high risk food suppliers to private auditors. The health and safety of some of the state's most vulnerable people are being sacrificed to market ideology and pressure from food businesses, according to Greens NSW MP John Kaye. Commenting on a story on page 1 of today's Sydney Morning Herald 'Fears for sick, elderly in food safety overhaul', Dr Kaye said: "The NSW government has kick started a regulatory race to the bottom in the highest risk food businesses in the state.
 
"Hospitals, food delivery services and aged care facilities will be able to shop around and find the least demanding auditor.
 
"Market forces will compel even the best of auditors to lower their standards to survive in a competitive industry.
 
"It is the aged and infirm who will lose out as their health is put at risk.
 
"The NSW government is sacrificing the health of the state's most vulnerable people to pressure from the food businesses to lower their compliance costs by cutting corners.
 
"People in nursing homes and respite care are about to have a much lower standard of food safety auditing.
 
"Dairies and businesses handling seafood and meat will also be able to shop around to find the least demanding auditor.
 
"Food poisoning outbreaks are much more likely in a regulatory system that is driven by profit.
 
"The Greens call on Food Minister Steve Whan to reverse this decision.
 
"The Keneally government must ensure that all high risk food businesses are audited by inspectors who are free from economic pressures to turn a blind eye to breaches of safety," Dr Kaye said.
 
For more information: John Kaye 0407 195 455

]]> No publisher jfield safe foods 2010-01-20T00:59:53Z News Item