ANZFA Calls For Public And Industry Comment On New Food Standards

The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) today advertised a round of industry and public comment on a wide range of proposed new food standards.

ANZFA's Managing Director, Mr Ian Lindenmayer, said today 'ANZFA is bringing the Food Standards for Australia and New Zealand into the new millennium.

'Many of the old standards have no relevance to public health and safety and their rigidity does not reflect the diversity of our food supply. They are also expensive to administer for industry, and these costs have been passed on to the consumer.

‘The development of many of the prescriptive, compositional standards in the current code was driven by historical concerns with the quality of everyday foods. Since that time the food industry and consumers have embraced a wealth of innovative and new food products which do not fit within the existing Food Standards. Consumer laws are now also in place to protect consumer rights.

‘A good example of historical, highly prescriptive food standards are those for jams and sauces which set strict recipes that control how industry can prepare these products. Many new products no longer fit these requirements. For example there is a standard defining tomato sauce but not one for satay sauce. Also many consumers may not realise that the popular new low sugar, high fruit content spreads are not defined as jams under the existing standard.

‘It is important that food standards are not so rigid as to force food businesses to seek a new standard each time they wish to change a recipe to meet changing consumer tastes or individuals’ health requirements.

‘The health and safety aspects of jams and sauces will now be covered by standards applying to all foods, such as the new standards on labelling and additives. Consumer rights will continue to be protected by the fair trading and consumer laws of Australia and New Zealand,’ Mr Lindenmayer said.

Other standards out for comment include:

· a print size labelling standard which will ensure that labelling is legible and in English and also maintains a minimum print size for health warnings;

· specific labelling statements for food ingredients such as wheat products, milk, eggs, seafood, peanuts and sulphites which pose a health risk to some people; and

· the provision of important health and safety information to consumers about unpackaged foods such as restaurant meals and fresh fruit and vegetables.

'ANZFA's process in developing new standards is an open one that involves representatives from consumers and industry. We would very much like to hear what industry, professional groups and consumers think about the new standards we are putting out for comment today. ANZFA's task is to ensure the public health and safety of our food supply while at the same time meeting consumer expectations and the needs of the modern food industry. This includes national and international trading implications.,’ Mr Lindenmayer said.

After this period of public comment the proposed standards will be considered by the ANZFA Board before being sent to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council (ANZFSC). ANZFSC consists of State and Territory Health Ministers and the New Zealand Associate Minister for Health and is chaired by the Parliamentary Secretary to the Federal Minister for Health and Aged Care. If approved by ANZFSC the Standards will become State and Territory and New Zealand food law.

Submissions on these proposals close 31 March 1999. Copies of these information papers can be obtained from the ANZFA web site http://www.foodstandards.gov.au or from:

The Information Officer

Food Standards Australia New Zealand

PO Box 7186

CANBERRA BUSINESS CENTRE ACT 2610

Tel: (02) 6271 2241 Fax: (02) 6271 2278

Email: info@foodstandards.gov.au