Tuna tune-up: calls for clearer green claims on cans
Promises of "responsibly-sourced" and "planet-friendly" on cans of the go-to source of cheap protein are not always backed up with evidence.
The findings of the Marine Stewardship Council-commissioned study cast light on the way brands communicate to consumers rather than their actual efforts to avoid bycatch and source fish from healthy populations.
Indeed, the commercial tuna fishing industry has made inroads on environmental performance, with more than half the tuna caught and sold in supermarkets worldwide wearing the international not-for-profit's sustainability badge.
Associate Professor Dan Daugaard, lead researcher at the University of Tasmania, said the industry was at the start of a "healthy discussion" about clear and direct eco-labelling.
All businesses are under pressure to prove they are not making misleading environmental claims, as the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission cracks down on the widespread practice known as 'green-washing'.
Assoc Prof Daugaard said imprecise or opaque wording, such as "eco-friendly", was fairly common across the 14 brands he assessed against ACCC guidelines for businesses hoping to avoid accusations of green deceit.
At the other end of the spectrum was the use of scientific terms consumers struggled to understand.
Brands that scored highest relied on concrete, clear phrases such as "line-caught to reduce bycatch" on their labels.
What separated the top performers from the rest was evidence to support claims, with brands getting around lack of space on packaging with third-party certification markers.
QR codes and website links were also used to provide more detailed information about supply chains.
"If that's not existing, then that's where the ACCC is saying 'it could well just be a greenwash'," Assoc Prof Daugaard told AAP.
Coles, John West, The Stock Merchant, Little Tuna, Walker's Tuna and Safcol emerged as leaders for their credible and clear packaging communication.
Even the best examples failed to execute on one of the ACCC's more aspirational asks, calling on brands to communicate their future plans to become more sustainable as a business.
"It's a very interesting area of almost pushing the brands to new levels of norms of what is expected by consumers," Assoc Prof Daugaard said.
Marine Stewardship Council Oceania program director Anne Gabriel said the report underscored the need for clearer sustainability messaging and evidence to support claims.
"Every purchasing and sourcing decision is a chance to protect our oceans and secure a healthier future for people and planet," she said.
Canned tuna is growing in popularity, new YouGov polling suggests, with one in four Australians eating more than they were two years ago
Health, convenience and affordability were common reasons cited by consumers for eating more of the tinned fish.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
6 hours ago
- Sky News AU
'Wake up call': Securty expert says Australians must take security more seriously following ASIO boss' espionage warning
Strategic Analysis Australia founder and Director Peter Jennings told Sky News host Steve Price that comments made by the boss of ASIO should be a wake-up call to all Australians on the threat foreign espionage poses. ASIO chief Mike Burgess at a conference in Adelaide revealed foreign espionage was costing the Australian economy $12.5 billion a year as he unveiled the inaugural cost of espionage report. Reacting on Sky News on Friday, Mr Jennings told host Steve Price that it was not surprising. 'This is industrial level espionage and intellectual property theft," he said. 'And of course it's being directed against Australia because we're a high technology country with very significant alliance relations with the United States and other developed economies, and it will be happening all the time.' Mr Jennings said that Australia needed to be taking steps to protect its military and economy from people who were looking to take advantage of the situation, adding that businesses needed to be aware of the risks they are facing. 'Mike Burgess touches on this in his speech as well, how naive Australians are to imagine that it couldn't possibly happen here or it wouldn't happen to my business,' he said. 'And Mike actually quotes Australian officials saying, oh, well, no one would be interested in going after my information. This is industrial level espionage and intellectual property theft' Mr Burgess on Thursday said "Many entities do not know their secrets have been stolen, or do not realise they've been stolen by espionage, or do not report the theft.' He also said that there were many countries that were committing this espionage. 'The obvious candidates are very active – I've previously named China, Russia and Iran – but many other countries are also targeting anyone and anything that could give them a strategic or tactical advantage, including sensitive but unclassified information.' Mr Burgess also said that he could not understand why some people were mentioning on social media that they carried a security clearance. "On just one professional networking site, the profiles of more than 35,000 Australians indicate they have access to sensitive and potentially classified information. Around 7,000 reference their work in the defence sector, including the specific project they are working on, the team they are working in, and the critical technologies they are working with," he said. "Close to 400 explicitly say they work on AUKUS, and the figure rises above 2,000 if you include broader references to 'submarines' and 'nuclear'.
Sydney Morning Herald
10 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
We are running the race to retirement riches backward
We've been sold a dream that kicks in at 60, 65 or 67. First by governments promising age pensions back in the early 1900s, and now by the superannuation industry selling glossy visions of leisure and freedom. And the planning for it? That usually happens just before people stop working – often too late to reshape anything meaningful. But for a growing number of Australians, it's not retirement itself that shapes their future. It's the decade or so before it. That's the window where you still have time to make strategic decisions – about money, work, lifestyle, and how you want the next 30 years to feel. The problem is that the word retirement still sounds like the end. It feels old. And for many people in their 50s, thinking too far ahead feels uncomfortable. They put off planning, or assume their super will take care of itself, or just hope things will work out. But by the time they're ready to engage, they're often left asking, 'why didn't I know this sooner?' The truth is, the best retirements don't start at 65 or 67. They start in your 50s, with practical decisions that give you more flexibility and less pressure – now and later. That might mean getting serious about salary sacrificing or topping up your super while you're still earning well and getting it into the position where, if it compounds at a long-term return rate of 7 to 10 per cent over 15 years ahead, before you retire, that it will be 'enough'. And you can even forecast that in your late 40s or 50s. It could mean getting the mortgage under control as early as you can once the kids are (finally) off your hands. Or thinking differently about your home versus investment mix, and perhaps choosing to downsize and shift money into superannuation once the downsizing window, which so many people are unaware of, opens at the age of 55. That's when the government allows you to put in up to $300,000 per person from the sale of your principal residence if you've owned it for 10 years or more.
The Age
10 hours ago
- The Age
We are running the race to retirement riches backward
We've been sold a dream that kicks in at 60, 65 or 67. First by governments promising age pensions back in the early 1900s, and now by the superannuation industry selling glossy visions of leisure and freedom. And the planning for it? That usually happens just before people stop working – often too late to reshape anything meaningful. But for a growing number of Australians, it's not retirement itself that shapes their future. It's the decade or so before it. That's the window where you still have time to make strategic decisions – about money, work, lifestyle, and how you want the next 30 years to feel. The problem is that the word retirement still sounds like the end. It feels old. And for many people in their 50s, thinking too far ahead feels uncomfortable. They put off planning, or assume their super will take care of itself, or just hope things will work out. But by the time they're ready to engage, they're often left asking, 'why didn't I know this sooner?' The truth is, the best retirements don't start at 65 or 67. They start in your 50s, with practical decisions that give you more flexibility and less pressure – now and later. That might mean getting serious about salary sacrificing or topping up your super while you're still earning well and getting it into the position where, if it compounds at a long-term return rate of 7 to 10 per cent over 15 years ahead, before you retire, that it will be 'enough'. And you can even forecast that in your late 40s or 50s. It could mean getting the mortgage under control as early as you can once the kids are (finally) off your hands. Or thinking differently about your home versus investment mix, and perhaps choosing to downsize and shift money into superannuation once the downsizing window, which so many people are unaware of, opens at the age of 55. That's when the government allows you to put in up to $300,000 per person from the sale of your principal residence if you've owned it for 10 years or more.
