As households all over Australia checked their freezers and threw out Nanna’s brand frozen berries from China in the wake of the hepatitis A contamination scare, Mr Joyce said if consumers wanted to be confident their foods were not tainted by poor regulation of hygiene and processing procedures the answer was as simple as buying Australian.

The trick, as many households discovered as they went through the contents of the kitchen freezer, was identifying where the ingredients were grown and packaged.

The contaminated frozen berries, which have infected several people with hepatitis A, are a good example of why this is not as straightforward as it should be.

The imported berries were predominately grown and packed in China but there was also concern that some berries from Chile exported in bulk and repackaged elsewhere could be a problem.

Then there is the problem of finding and being able to read and understand the consumer information on the packet which should tell the consumer exactly what is inside and how it got into the supermarket freezer.

This is where Australian producers including the apple, cherry and berry growers of Orange part company with the food processors and manufacturers.

Australian growers would like nothing less than clear unambiguous labelling in big print which tells consumers where a product was grown, processed and packaged and whether the product is Australian owned.

Many food manufacturers, and particularly multinationals would like nothing more than the continuation of a labelling system which seems almost deliberately confusing. Complicated definitions of Australian made and Australian owned  suit an industry which is as conscious of price competition as it of consumers’ growing concern about the purity of food products.

Australia’s free trade agreements, including its most recent treaty with China, mean tariffs and quotas will not protect Australian producers.

Their best protection, and the best protection for consumers would be labelling laws which allow shoppers to easily chose products knowing the origin of the products and the processing chain as well as the price.