What's Happened Since the Food Fraud Story
The ACCC is asking questions, most companies reject the findings, and the testing is being argued over. None of it changes what you can do this week.
A month ago Four Corners aired its food fraud investigation, and I wrote at the time that the useful question wasn't how to read labels harder. It was how many strangers stand between you and your food. This series has walked through what the program actually alleged, food by food. Here's where it all stands, and what you can do about it this week.
Where the fight is up to
The claims, in one breath: testing commissioned by the program failed a chunk of supermarket tomato products on origin, found adulterants in some ground spices, disputed a cage-free egg claim, and raised issues with seafood and at least one drink. Most of the companies involved rejected the findings and pointed to their supplier paperwork. One spice brand said it was investigating and believed the metal levels were safe, and one spirits company said its brand had been counterfeited.
Since then: the ACCC has confirmed it's making inquiries. Ministers have said the obvious thing, which is that labels must tell the truth. And one published critique has argued the program's lab isn't accredited by Australian regulators for this work, and that the story blurred fraud together with quality problems. Some of these findings may not survive scrutiny. Some may end in court. I genuinely don't know which, and I'd be suspicious of anyone who claims to.
Which is exactly the point I keep making. If it takes a regulator, three laboratories and a defamation lawyer to settle what's in a jar, the label was never really information. The fix available to you and me isn't better fine print. It's fewer strangers.
One swap per state, this week
Every stall here was live on SideStall when we last checked, 25 September 2026. Listings change with the week, so treat the stall page as the truth about what's on the table today:
- SA: veg from Parawanga Produce near Whites Valley, honey from Karoonda Honey near Callington, or beef and lamb from L&M Ag at Balhannah
- NSW: eggs from Sue's Eggs near East Branxton, duck eggs included
- QLD: veg and chillies from From the garden near Glass House Mountains
- TAS: eggs and leatherwood honey from Fridge on Hicks near Yolla
- VIC: rhubarb and seeds from Cath's Plants and Produce near Soldiers Hill
- WA: eggs and veg from KQ Produce near Deanmill
That's six states. The rest of the picture: the Northern Territory has a single stall so far, the ACT none, and when we last looked, on 25 September 2026, no seafood at all. If you fish, or you keep bees up north, those gaps are yours for the taking.
None of these sellers can promise what's in stock when you read this. What they can promise is the thing no supermarket shelf can: you know exactly who you're buying from, and you can ask them anything.
New here? SideStall is a free app that maps the farm gates, roadside stalls and honesty boxes near you. Get it for iPhone or Android.
For the record: the program is the ABC's Four Corners Duped: Food Exposed (July and August 2026); the ACCC's inquiries, the ministers' statements and the accreditation critique were all reported in early August 2026. Every claim above is attributed to its side of the argument, and no brand is named.
Download the SideStall app, free on iPhone and Android, and shorten one chain this week.
Grow it, bake it, raise it or catch it? List your stall on SideStall. It's free to start, there's no monthly fee to take payments on any plan including Free, and a small SideStall platform fee plus card processing applies only when a buyer actually pays in the app. Set up your stall →