where Santa shops

Another goody under the tree for me was another favourite, cranberries and macadamia nuts. After all these years, Santa knows me well.

I'm not a suspicious person by nature, but having discovered to my horror that in New Zealand I was eating peanut butter from China (and sweetened... ugh!) and jam from Poland I read the labels a lot more these days. (Whatever happened to the "Buy New Zealand" campaign?)

The dried cranberries with the macadamia nuts had much more environmentally friendly packaging than the chocolates. The clear, simply printed cellophane bag proclaimed:

Marks & Spencer
cranberries & macadamia nuts
A delicious combination, a source of magnesium, perfect for snacking and topping.

Then in tiny print at the bottom advised
"Display until 03 Jan 2009
Best before 10 Jan 2009.

I must say that they were pretty good even after 10 Jan 2009... but one couldn't risk them going off, could one?

However, after the interesting discovery on the chocolates I looked at the other side of the packet. Where were these goodies from?

There was plenty of clear, useful information about allergies, nuts and small children, ingredients and nutritional value, packing conditions. But the source?

The panel read:

Product of more than one country.
Packed in Italy
Marks and Spencer (address and contact details).

I wonder, what gives Marks and Spencer the right to withhold the origin of the food I am eating? Am I supposed to just accept that their name assures me that all has been gathered in fair trade situations? Couldn't they at least have assured me of that, in the tiny print?

The flavour, by the way, was good! Consume within one week of opening? No problem!