Fruit and veg producers fight fruit-juice health rating

Plans that would see fresh fruit and vegetable juice stripped of its five star health rating could “put a nail in the coffin for a lot of orange farmers”, a Riverina citrus grower says.

Vito Mancini, of Redbelly Citrus, says the return growers receive for juicing fruit is already much lower than for whole fresh fruit. Picture: Lindsay Hayes

AUSTRALIA’S fresh juicing industry is stepping up pressure on states and territories to scupper a plan to downgrade the health-star rating of fresh fruit and vegetable juice to that of soft drink.

Citrus Australia is leading the charge against an overhaul of Australia’s health-star rating system that would see 100 per cent fresh fruit and vegetable juice lose its automatic five-star rating and instead be calculated according to its sugar and energy content.

The new calculation was agreed to at an Australian and New Zealand Ministerial Forum for food regulation meeting in July. It would see juices given a rating as low as 2.5 stars and come into effect within two years.

But it is hoped a fresh vote on the matter will be cast at the forum’s next meeting in late November.

Citrus Australia, the National Farmers’ Federation, AusVeg, Apple and Pear Australia, Passionfruit Australia, Mangoes Australia and Summerfruit Australia are petitioning forum chair Senator Richard Colbeck for another vote in favour of an automatic four-star rating for fresh juice, which already has the support of the Federal Government, NSW and South Australian governments.

Citrus Australia chief executive Nathan Hancock said juice processors fear an immediate and detrimental effect on sales.

“We fear any decline in sales under this false premise would also hasten the demise of not only the Australian orange juice industry, which has already seen a 30 per cent decrease in the production base over the last 18 years, but many other horticulture industries as well,” Mr Hancock said.

Vito Mancini, of Redbelly Citus in the NSW Riverina, agreed, saying a low health-star rating would wrongly deter an increasingly health conscious consumer.

“This could put a nail in the coffin for a lot of orange farmers,” Mr Mancini said.

The third generation citrus grower, who supplies The Dairy Juice Company, said the return growers received for juicing fruit was already much lower than for whole fresh fruit — about 40c a kilogram compared to 80c-$1 a kilogram for fresh fruit — but growers wanting to switch industries faced an eight-year wait for new trees to bear fruit, ensuring many were stuck in an increasingly difficult market.

Senator Colbeck said while a vote on an automatic four-star rating for fresh juice was unsuccessful in July, it was agreed the issue “needed to be looked at further”.

“The Forum requested the Food Regulation Standing Committee consider and provide further advice on the treatment of artificially-sweetened beverages and 100 per cent vegetable and fruit juice beverages at the November Forum meeting,” Mr Colbeck said.

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