It was a food and drink filled week for Independent Senator Nick Xenophon.
Australian company Berri has bowed to ongoing criticism by the senator and decided to pull their Truly Berri products off shelves.
The company was accused of misleading the public by not being clear as to where the juice came from and making customers assume the product was made in Australia, like all their other products.
Senator Xenophon said fine print on the packaging revealed the fruit was from Mexico, but the Berri branding and subsequent link to the Berri region in South Australia might lead people to assume it was an Australian product.
“We need to legislate for accurate and truthful labelling of country of origin, palm oil and products containing genetically modified ingredients,” the Senator wrote on his website.
Mr Xenophon and South Australian Riverland MP Tim Whetstone were ready to bring their complaint to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
Berri said it was removing the product because it had not met performance benchmarks and would be discontinued, but the company made no apology for investing in innovation to build the juice category in Australia.
Kitchen Cabinet goes Greek
Also last week, Mr Xenophon showed off his cooking skills, albeit in his office in South Australia on the ABC’s Kitchen Cabinet.
Framed by printers and folders, Mr Xenophon rolled up his sleeves and put on an apron to make some Greek dips. In-between policy talk, he revealed despite his heritage, he’d never attempted to make tzatziki or tarama from scratch. But in true Greek style, he inevitably added a bit too much garlic saying “you can never have enough garlic”.
Interviewed by ABC political commentator Annabel Crabb, the senator was reserved and a little on the boring side as he wouldn’t veer from his politically correct persona.
“I work, that’s about it. I live alone,” he said when questioned by Crabb on his life outside of politics.
Rather, it was through the host’s recollections of a younger Xenophon that a more fun and cheeky persona came to light.
During his early days in parliament, he became known for his octopus BBQ offs. They were short lived, sadly, after the fire brigade was called on one occasion.
The octopus became a theme in the episode when it was revealed Xenophon had arranged to take over a local souvlaki shop. Out came two five-kilo-whole-squids, enough to feed a small village.
Obviously a Yianni’s regular in Hindley St, Xenophon used some of his Greek language skills to take over the grill and cook the squid behemoths.
Sitting down for their meal, the conversation never swayed from policy.
As an independent, Xenophon has been characterised by his strong pokies stance and his ability to sway the major parties over policy. He was a big player in providing opposition Prime Minister Kevin Rudd’s stimulus package and has campaigned for the Murray-Darling basin.
Yet, without party backing, Crabb felt the need to ask Xenophon whether he is disadvantaged without a party room to bounce ideas off.
“I have my party room meetings in front of the mirror while having my shave,” he replied.
In a stereotypical end for the Greek Australian senator, the dinner finished with Bill from Yianni’s souvlaki shop bringing over celebratory towers of plates to smash.