FAST FOOD LABELLING

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (14:49): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Consumer Affairs a question about labelling of fast food.

Leave granted.

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS: It is estimated that, on average, Australians eat out four times every week and that, according to at least one report, 44 per cent of that food eaten outside the home is so-called 'fast food' and bought from one of Australia's clearly very popular 17,000-plus fast-food outlets. The Obesity Policy Coalition has recently pointed to a rise in the marketing of fast food, which could be seen to be misleading or deceptive to those looking for healthier purchase options.

For example, menu items such as 'garden goodness' and 'green tea venti', while technically low fat items, are actually quite high in kilojoules. As a further example, there is actually less than 100 kilojoules difference between the McDonald's crispy chicken caesar salad and that transnational's iconic Big Mac product. Lower kilojoule meals themselves may also be high in sodium.

The associated health concerns have led the New South Wales government to show leadership in this area, moving for fast food chains with 50 or more outlets in that state to display kilojoule counts on their in-store menus. My questions to the minister are:

1. Is the minister concerned that consumers are being misled by the marketing of so-called healthy options?

2. Is she or her department pursuing any actions on this matter that will result in South Australian consumers being able to enjoy informative and truthful labelling of menu items, for example, for levels of sodium, numbers of kilojoules and other health-related matters such as trans fats?

3. Specifically, would the minister countenance taking the lead from New South Wales and ensuring that fast food chains in this state display this information at point of sale so that a consumer who really wants to can actually make a healthy choice?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:51): I thank the honourable member for her most important questions. It is with the growing obesity rates here in Australia and in some parts of the world that the issue of striving to develop strategies to reduce weight, particularly in our children, is a very challenging one. Food labelling and the matters the honourable member has posed here today largely come under the responsibilities of the Minister for Health, and I am happy to refer those questions to him and bring back a response.

I know that food labelling is a very challenging and complex issue. I know that the Council of Australian Governments has agreed that the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council undertake a comprehensive review of food labelling laws and policy. One of the areas it is looking at is the duplication of country of origin labelling. It has highlighted that to be looked at in the review, and a number of other matters related to food labelling will also be looked at in that review. We certainly look forward to the result of that inquiry.