Wow, thanks.
This is such a let down they have come to version 1.6 or so of this software and not addressed this crucial issue.
It is hard to see how an e-commerce software that simply does not comply with Google's most basic requirments / gets you penalised for missing tags etc should be of use.
It's a shame because appart from that it is a great ecommerce platform.
but getting the main shop page to be unable to rank in google at its optimum best is just a deal breaker.
I hope they fix this as a matter of urgency, but by the sound of it, it doesn't trouble them too much.
Thanks again for the reply.