Saw these at Floreat WA and thought to share. Brought a couple of each flavor to try.
Best before:
Microwave range 420g - October 2014
Sachet Range 500g - July/August 2015
Don't hold me to it if it doesn't cut the grade as I haven't tried it as yet! :)
Edit: It doesn't seem to be Nationwide from what I can see on the web.
I have done this in the past. It ended up being something like an entire pot because I added this and that until it tasted better. Well that was dinner sorted for the family!
I believe they're clearing them out, my store reduced a trolley load to 99c and sold them all in under an hour.
For what it's worth, the chicken and sweet corn isn't too bad for a microwave soup.
Extra-cheap at a 50c clearout, but I always check origin of ingredients in Woolworths Homebrand and Select products, and Coles equivalents. Increasingly, name-brand products, too. May be fine, may be China.
Reports (including one held back for years until very recently) reveals that a huge percentage of fresh water in China is badly polluted and huge areas of land in which food is still grown is horrendously contaminated with cadmium and other serious nasties.
Beware of any products that state: 'Made in Australia from local and/or imported ingredients' or products from NZ that just state: 'Made in New Zealand' instead of 'Product of New Zealand'.
I can't speak specifically to the soup in question, but questionable labelling on frozen vegetables and peanut butter almost always means China product some or most of the time.
When testing actually (rarely) gets done (5% of containers get tested in Australia), testing has in the past (all around the world) revealed the use of banned pesticides in various produce, and particularly disturbing levels of cadmium in the tested, Chinese-grown, garlic and peanuts.
Soo, basically don't eat anything?
TL;DR??
Educated and well-off Chinese people (in China) know the score about Chinese produce - and it not just reflected in the current booming market (and blackmarket) in Australian baby formula and other dairy produce - relating to (ongoing) scandals and contamination scares.
They probably regard us as complete mugs for buying any of their food products. Up to you if you want to take the risks that they are avoiding.
I think the shift away from China-sourced food products is definitely getting stronger among people here in general, and with very good reason.
Even the Woolworths and Coles branded frozen vegetables were fairly recently revamped and more emphasis was put on using Australian grown veggies only (can't remember if it was Woolies or Coles which now have a frozen veg range which all clearly, proudly state "Australian suchandsuch" on the packaging now). They must've picked up on shoppers becoming wiser and more selective about what they buy - and how people are becoming more aware (and wary) of things like frozen veggies being sourced from China, or NZ-but-actually-still-product-of-China, making use of the frustratingly vague labelling standards we have here. I try to only buy stuff which says "product of" now, because you can't even trust "made in", or the worst one ending with "from local and imported ingredients".
Actually, it was Woolworths I'd read about. Their justification for the change appears to be "supporting local business/farmers" etc but I'm skeptical of that being the real reason. Or maybe it is, and fewer people than I imagine had decided to boycott certain products for not being Aussie sourced (or from anywhere other than China lol).
My mother works in food importing (importing manager, deals with food manufacturers from all over the world including loads from China, plus deals with Customs daily). Her stories of some of the issues she's had with China are enough to solidify any fears and lack of trust in food that comes from there. Not that it's all bad - but there's enough risk to simply avoid and be safe. That's not even taking into account the pollution over there, either. Makes you wonder how that affects anything grown or processed there too.
I hadn't really thought about that when it comes to packaged foods like soups. The more one thinks about it and tries to figure out where every element of a processed food item comes from, though… brain explodes lol
I once called up a producer of a pet food I buy for my animals. NSW business using grains etc grown on their farm - a point they were proud of and appealed to me. Til I asked where they obtained the vitamin/mineral formulas they add into the mix. Long pause… "I think it's…China".
Sigh lol. I'm sure that applies to nearly everything though.
@waterlogged turnip:
Thanks for that Woolies link - aware of the announcement, but unaware of the extent of the shift. have been buying some of the Coles Australian frozen veges since introduction. Regularly, a couple of the vegetable mixes, and the baby peas are always on the shopping list.
@Tas: I've just discovered the Coles frozen Australian brussels sprouts. So happy - sprouts all year round! :D
@waterlogged turnip: The thing about products from China is that sometimes it's not even the real thing. (Have you seen the video where they make an egg out of…. I don't know, wasn't an egg though!) Freaking scares me to bits the things they can make that look and possibly tastes real!
@waterlogged turnip: The local Coles supermarkets where I live don't appear to stock the sprouts.
Fresh or from frozen and cooked just right, sprouts can indeed be nice.
I hope the Coles frozen-ones are nice for you.
Re: imported and local ingredients
Unfortunately, that's that's most packaged goods.
Add to the list the melamine poisoning - and Chinese food is an even bigger risk (see Scientific American for some credible articles about the deaths etc from food from China).
Our food labelling laws are inadequate,
Re: Re: imported and local ingredients.
True, and I wasn't quite explicit enough about the higher likelihood of China-grown produce in the 'and/or' labelled supermarket-brand stuff.
You only need to look at most of the (very) cheapest frozen vegetable stuff on the market, and not just at Woolies and Coles - most of which is of single origin - usually China. Price temptation must be extremely high for use of same in other products - like, maybe, soup.
Incidentally, you really do have to scrutinise the packaging of all major name-brand frozen veges - even batch-to-batch - as 'and/or' labelling or simple 'Made in NZ' (labelling loophole), will almost certainly mean Chinese vegetable content in those packs.
Other big one, as I indicated above, is peanut butter.
Coles own-brand and Dick Smith use Australian peanuts, but almost all other peanut butter brands have 'and/or' labelling.
Buy those and you can be VERY sure that you are eating Chinese peanuts at least some, but likely most, of the time. China is the biggest supplier of peanuts for that purpose - and all others, in the world.
Beyond cadmium contamination (when consumed, it just accumulates and never leaves your body), aflatoxin levels almost always tests higher in Chinese peanuts.
Aflatoxin is a microscopic mould that usually results from poor storage or transport conditions. It is the most toxic, naturally-occurring substance ever discovered and is carcinogenic in the low parts per billion.
It is a problem in peanut butter worldwide and has never been properly addressed by industry or governments. Testing regimens around the world have even been relaxed as a result of industry pressure. Low-enough 'achievable' levels perpetually placed in the 'too hard basket'.
It's too early in the morning for all of this, DeWalt! Sorry.
This thread went from "cheap soup" to "Don't eat food from China" and "inadequate labeling" haha
Yes, and in a thread where a love bird references the eating of eggs, and a turnip discusses the eating of vegetables…
Cannibalism is clearly next on the OzBargain meal-agenda.
Yep, pyro - I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt - but can a proper, evil (I fear that we may have one in our midst) cannibal-turnip be handcuffed and taken into custody without the appearance of any suspicious purplish bruising?
NO IT CAN'T , but nothing can be allowed to stand in the way of JUSTICE.
''… but Officer, I, I, had to… That other OzBargain turnip beat me to a bargain…"
"TELL IT TO THE JUDGE, BABYCAKES!"
I don't know why, but I laughed so hard.
On another note, did you know that it's common for birds to eat their own eggs? especially if it's their first time laying them. My Lorikeets used to do it, the male wasn't too please though, he tried to protect them and had half his feathers pulled out by his mate!
Note sure about turnips eating vegetables though.
Are they Rainbow Lorikeets?
The noisiest of all potential snacks.
Awesome prices. Can't go wrong for that cheap - if it's not tasty enough, just add some stuff to it (fresh herbs, extra sauces/spices, extra whatever really!)