Four Corners finds mislabeled eggs, seafood, turmeric and spirits

An ABC Four Corners investigation commissioned independent forensic testing and found multiple supermarket products whose labels did not match scientific origin or purity checks, including processed tomato products, seafood, cage-free eggs, spices and some alcohol. Four Corners purchased hundreds of samples from Coles, Woolworths, Aldi and independent retailers across four states, removed brand identifiers, and worked with Source Certain and specialist labs using stable isotope and trace element analysis to compare chemical fingerprints with verified reference samples. The testing found one in four tested tomato products failed country-of-origin checks or were flagged for further investigation; Source Certain tested 33 Leggo's tomato paste products and 27, or 80 percent, failed, with failed samples containing tomatoes from China despite packaging claiming Australian-grown fruit. The investigation also collated thousands of import inspection records, recalls and international food fraud intelligence and found only a fraction of imported food is inspected at the border and that testing for dangerous contaminants has declined since 2019. Honey is the only imported food routinely tested for adulteration, at a rate of 5 percent. Four Corners put concerning results to manufacturers; Leggo's owner Simplot rejected the forensic findings, cited supplier documentation tracing products to Australian farms, and said it had not carried out forensic testing itself.