Senator Steve Martin promotes local produce amid imported frozen vegetable scare

Supermarkets including Woolworths, IGA and ALDI pulled several frozen vegetable products from their shelves recently due to a possible listeria contamination linked to a European company.

Senator Martin said Tasmanian produce was “some of the safest in the world” and encouraged shoppers to “keep buying Australian frozen vegetables as a result of this latest recall”.

“We’re so lucky to have some of the highest quality produce on our doorstep and you know that any product that comes from Tasmania is going to be of the highest standard,” the Nationals Senator said.

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“It would be great if every time we went shopping we all made the effort to ‘Grab a Tassie’  - purchase locally grown produce instead of produce that is imported from overseas.”

Listeria can cause illness in pregnant women, unborn babies, the elderly and people with low immune systems.

Six people across NSW and Victoria died in February from listeria linked to contaminated rockmelon.

Frozen vegetable brands potentially contaminated by the latest listeria scare include Black & Gold, Bell Farms and Market Fare.

Senator Martin said the recall was a “timely reminder” to buy local and support Tasmanian farmers.

“Unfortunately some Tasmanian growers and farmers have already been significantly impacted this year by the Queensland fruit fly incursion, so it is important that as consumers we continue to do everything we can to support our farmers,” he said.

Tasmanian Farmers and Graziers Association president Wayne Johnston said he “totally agreed” with Senator Martin’s push to buy local.

“All of Australia should be looking at Australian produce,” he said.

“We just need to make sure that we buy locally whereever possible because it’s the best food we can ever use.”

Mr Johnston said few producers would be affected by the fruit fly incursion and the frozen food sector concerns.

Simplot and McCain are among the frozen vegetable sellers with operations in North-West Tasmania.

Senator Martin said new food labelling introduced in Australia would make it “even easier to identify food that has been grown, produced and packed in Australia”.