Restaurants Now Have To Disclose the Origin of Their Seafood (or Be Caught Out)

Since 2016, Aussie retailers have been required by law to show where their seafood comes from. Restaurants, on the other hand, have been allowed to fly under the radar. But under new changes to the Australian Consumer Law passed in June last year, it will be mandatory from July 1 for hospitality businesses to label the origin of the seafood they’re serving if it’s intended for immediate consumption.

Under the new scheme, venues will be required to use Country of Origin labelling (COOL) to show whether a seafood product is Australian (A), imported from overseas (I) or if different components of a dish have mixed origins (M). So if you’re ordering something like a seafood pasta with Queensland prawns and squid from China, a mixed-origin label would apply.

Businesses will need to comply with the laws regardless of their menu format (digital, chalkboard, paper, third-party delivery app) and provide a legend for what each of the letters denotes. They can skip the legend if the origin is clearly stated in the dish description – for example, “wild barramundi (imported)” or “seafood paella (contains mixed-origin seafood)”.

Alternatively, if a business exclusively sells Australian seafood (or 100 per cent imported products), it can simply put a single, blanket statement at the top of the menu. In any case, businesses aren’t required to denote the specific country of origin of their seafood – only that it comes from Australia or has been imported.

While the rules apply to just about every kind of business that might serve seafood (restaurants, cafes, pubs, food trucks, market stalls, hotels and fast-food outlets), there are exemptions for schools, canteens, hospitals, prisons and fundraising events. Plus, instances where seafood is served more than 24 hours after it’s been ordered, such as a one-off set menu a diner has booked in advance.

Dishes made with shelf-stable seafood products such as tuna and anchovies also get a pass. So if a cafe uses imported tinned tuna for its tasty tuna melt, no new labelling is required for the dish.

Jason Staudt, executive chef at leading Melbourne seafood diner Stokehouse, says the new law is “a fantastic step in the right direction” and hopes proper government support will uphold the changes.“Seeing ‘Australian’ next to a dish shouldn’t just signal quality,” he tells Broadsheet. “It should also help guests to understand the real value behind the price, as they’re choosing seafood that is responsibly caught, properly handled and cooked with care.”

Around 65 per cent of Australia’s seafood is imported according to Seafood Industry Australia, the organisation that lobbied for the change. Staudt says Stokehouse uses 95 per cent Australian, with the remaining five per cent comprising seasonal catch from New Zealand and imported European products such as anchovies and caviar.

“Arming our great dining room team with all the information prior to approaching a guest is extremely important to the experience at Stokehouse,” he says. “Explaining the difference between well-handled premium seafood versus frozen imported seafood is an easy sell for most people.”

Jose Da Silva of Sydney fish’n’chipper Fich says he uses Australian and New Zealand seafood as much as possible. Many of his customers ask about the origin of his products.“It’s good to show people where our seafood comes from, because some people lie about it. This way, everyone has to be honest about the product they’re using,” he says. “We’ve got the best seafood in the world, so we might as well use it.”