Country of origin label wording: what 'Made in Australia' means
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Most food sold in Australia needs a country of origin label. The rules are in the Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016, made under the Australian Consumer Law and enforced by the ACCC. They aren't part of the Food Standards Code. The section numbers in brackets below are sections of the Information Standard.
Labelwise applies these rules and draws the label. This guide, like Labelwise, isn't advice: you decide where your food was grown, produced, made or packed, and you are responsible for what you print.
Does my food need one?
The labelling rules apply to food sold at retail (s14(1)). They don't apply to (s14(2)):
- food sold for immediate consumption by a restaurant, canteen, school, caterer, prison or hospital;
- food made and packaged on the premises where it is sold;
- food delivered packaged and ready to eat at the express order of the buyer;
- food sold at a fund-raising event;
- food for special medical purposes.
Priority and non-priority food
Non-priority food is: seasonings, confectionery, biscuits and snack food, bottled water, soft drinks and sports drinks, tea and coffee, and alcoholic drinks (s9). Everything else is priority food.
Non-priority food needs only a plain statement, such as "Made in Australia". It may use the standard marks, but doesn't have to (s24, s25).
Priority food grown, produced or made in Australia carries a standard mark: the kangaroo logo, a bar chart and the words, in a box (s18, s19).
Grown, produced, made or packed
These words have set meanings (s8):
- Grown in or produced in a country: every significant ingredient is from that country, and virtually all the processing happened there.
- Made in a country: the food was last substantially transformed there. Whether your process is a substantial transformation is your decision.
- Packed in a country: the food was only packed there. You may say "Packed" or "Packaged".
If a food you would call grown or produced in Australia has any ingredient that isn't Australian, it can't say so on the mark. The mark says "Made in Australia" instead, with the Australian percentage (s19).
Food packed in Australia but grown, produced or made in one other country says so: a boxed "Made in Vietnam", say, or a mark without the kangaroo (s22). Food packed here from ingredients of several countries says "Packed in Australia from at least P% Australian ingredients", or from imported ingredients, with a bar chart and no logo (s22(6)–(8)).
Imported food carries a boxed statement such as "Made in Italy" or "Product of Italy", or, from several countries, "Packed in Italy from imported ingredients". It may also carry a mark showing its Australian ingredients (s15(3)–(4), s26).
The Australian percentage
For food made in Australia from some imported ingredients, the mark says "Made in Australia from at least P% Australian ingredients" (s19). P is worked out like this:
- By ingoing weight. Add up the weight of every ingredient as it goes into the mix, and the weight of the Australian ones (s11(1)). Water lost in cooking isn't taken off.
- Mixed ingredients count in part. An ingredient made from both Australian and imported ingredients counts for its Australian share (s11(4)(b)).
- Added water comes from where it was collected (s12(3)), so tap water added in Australia is Australian.
- "At least" means rounded down. P is a whole number not more than the real share. 77.9% is "at least 77%", and 99.99% is "at least 99%".
For example, 779 g of Australian flour and 221 g of imported butter is 77.9% Australian, so the mark says "Made in Australia from at least 77% Australian ingredients".
Under 10% may be shown as "from less than 10% Australian ingredients". With no Australian ingredients, the mark says "from 0%" or "from imported ingredients" (s19). Food made only from Australian ingredients may say "Made in Australia from 100% Australian ingredients" (s18).
Keep the records you worked the percentage out from. The Standard requires them to be kept for a year (s31).
The standard mark and its bar chart
The bar chart shows the Australian share. It has four markings at 20% steps and is filled (s10 and the Style Guide):
- to the 10% step below P, from 10% to 94% (77% fills to 70%);
- to 95%, from 95% to 99%;
- to 5%, for "less than 10%" and for any P under 10;
- not at all for 0%, and fully for 100%.
The words must be legible and contrast with the background (s28).
You may add a phrase naming where one ingredient is from, such as "with prawns from Thailand", where the Standard allows it (s19(5), s22(9), s26(5)). It must start with "with".
Small packages
On a small package, under 100 cm² (Food Standards Code 1.1.2—2), the mark's words go in a box without the kangaroo or the bar chart (s14(3)).
The kangaroo
The kangaroo logo appears in the standard marks for food grown, produced or made in Australia (s18, s19). A mark for food only packed here has no logo (s22). The logo may only be used as part of a standard mark, never on its own (s29).
Make this label
Not sure which wording applies? The free origin wording tool shows every wording the Standard allows for your food, with the mark drawn. To make the whole label, enter your recipe with each ingredient's origin in Labelwise.