Australia’s non-alcoholic beverages industry has vehemently rejected concerns over juice safety, following a story that recently aired on Channel Seven’s Today Tonight program.

Australian juice must meet extremely high standards for quality as set by the Food Standards Australia and New Zealand’s (FSANZ) Food Code, claims Fruit Juice Australia (FJA), a division of the Australian Beverages Council, which represents 95% of the non-alcoholic beverages industry.

The Council’s CEO, Mr Geoff Parker said the code sets maximum residue limits for certain chemicals used in food production, and no Australian juice whether produced from 100% local fruit or a blend of local and imported produce can exceed these limits.

“FSANZ makes sure that potential chemical residues in food (or beverages) are within levels that are known to be safe for people to eat. No Australian juices, including those featured, comes even close to these limits and trace amounts of different residues can be found in most everyday foods” he said.

Mr Geoff Parker said Australian juice producers must also meet stringent labelling laws as policed by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and all labels must clearly state whether the product is sourced from local ingredients or a blend of local and imported.

“A recent survey of 1000 shoppers found that price is a more determining factor than origin with only 13% of shoppers checking the country of origin every time. For this small percentage of people the label clearly states whether the juice is produced using local, imported or a blend of ingredients. The survey also found that around half of Australian grocery buyers (47%) don’t care where food comes from as long as it is good quality and reasonably priced and 56% think imported food keeps Australian prices competitive.

“Australian juice companies would always prefer to use 100% local produce. It’s great quality and locally sourced fruit means it’s cheaper to get to the processing plant. The problem the industry faces is that the orange crop, for example, that can be used for juice has a shortfall of approximately 200,000 tons between what is available and what is needed. This shortfall can be further compounded by seasonal variability. To ensure shoppers have a year-round supply of great quality juice, other alternatives need to be considered. This could be to use imported product or rely on cold-stored juice from previous domestic crops to blend with fresh juice” Mr Parker said.

Members of FJA adhere to further standards through its Fruit Juice Code of Practice and Descriptors Guidelines that governs the use of terms such as “fresh” and “freshly squeezed”, the industry said.