FSANZ SEEKS CHANGES TO NEW FOOD CODE, INCLUDING STRONGER BSE PROVISIONS
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) today invited the public, industry and health professionals to comment on proposed changes to the Food Standards Code.
Four of the changes are technical in nature and have become necessary in the lead-up to 20 December 2002, when the new Food Standards Code will replace existing Australian and New Zealand food standards and labelling regulations. Two others, involving the pathogens Listeria and bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), have a direct bearing on food safety.
FSANZ's Acting Managing Director Peter Liehne said public consultation was a vital part of the food regulatory process and FSANZ invited comment on each matter.
'Because of our conservative and cautionary approach to food regulation, FSANZ took emergency action in 2001 to prevent beef and beef products from Europe entering the Australian food supply when the first reports of the spread of BSE from the UK were confirmed,' Mr Liehne said.
'Since then, we have undertaken a comprehensive risk assessment of BSE and human health and are now in a position to propose refinements to the measures put in place at that time.'
BSE in beef and beef products (P238 ) - Pre-Final Assessment
In January 2001, the then ANZFA (now FSANZ) raised a proposal to examine the risk of contracting variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease ( vCJD) from BSE-contaminated beef and beef products. The Food Standards Code was amended, as an emergency regulatory measure, to require bovine meat and bovine-derived food ingredients in the Australian food supply to be derived from animals free from BSE. This amendment did not include milk and dairy products, gelatine, fats and tallow, collagen from bovine skins and hides, and non-beef flavourings.
A comprehensive risk assessment has since been undertaken, in consultation with national and international experts, to examine the available scientific data and information to estimate the risks to human health from consumption of beef and beef products containing the BSE agent. This assessment was released by FSANZ in August 2002. Based on this risk assessment, FSANZ recommends a refinement of the emergency measure to also require bulk tallow and bone-derived gelatine to be derived from cattle that are free from BSE.
Listeria in seafood (P239 ) - Draft Assessment
The Food Standards Code specifies microbiological limits for Listeria monocytogenes in some foods, including cooked crustacea and ready-to-eat finfish, such as smoked salmon. FSANZ has undertaken a review of the appropriateness of these criteria in protecting public health. Based on a scientific risk assessment, FSANZ is recommending that the existing microbiological limits for Listeria in finfish should be retained. A risk analysis that included data obtained from a survey conducted by FSANZ in conjunction with States and Territories concluded that the standards for Listeria monocytogenes in cooked crustacea could not be justified on public health grounds.
Exemption of home brew kits from nutrition labelling (P267 ) - Initial/Draft Assessment
Under the Food Standards Code, packaged food must include a nutrition information panel on the label unless it is specifically exempted. Alcoholic beverages are exempt from this provision. As home brew kits are used to brew alcoholic beverages, this proposal seeks to exempt these products from the requirement to bear a nutrition information panel.
Caffeine in soft drinks - for New Zealand only (P269 ) - Initial/Draft Assessment
Under current regulations, caffeine may be added to all soft drinks in New Zealand up to 200 mg/kg, while in Australia caffeine may only be added to kola type drinks up to 145 mg/L. From 20 December 2002, as part of the final transition to a joint food standards system, both Volume 1 of the Food Standards Code and the New Zealand Food Regulations will be repealed. At this time, the more restrictive permissions in the new Code will prevail in both Australia and New Zealand. One product currently being legally sold in New Zealand - Mountain Dew - will be affected because it contains caffeine at a level of 152 mg/kg.Mountain Dew is also available in Australia but contains no caffeine.
FSANZ is currently considering an application to extend the permissions for caffeine in the new Code so that it may be added to non-kola soft drinks (Application A427 ). A decision on this application will not be possible before 20 December 2002 and so a time-limited transitional provision to maintain the status quo in New Zealand is being examined.
Warning statements on condensed, modified and skim milks (P268 ) - Initial/Draft Assessment
In the two-year transition from the old Code in Australia and the New Zealand Food Regulations to the new Food Standards Code, milk manufacturers have been able to comply with either the Australian or New Zealand labelling requirements. However, the new transitional standard for the labelling of milk inadvertently requires manufacturers in Australia to only use the existing Australian requirement and for those in New Zealand to only use the New Zealand requirements. This proposal seeks to amend the new transitional standards to permit manufacturers in each country to use either the Australian or New Zealand requirements.
Foods for infants - minor amendments (P270 ) - Initial/Draft Assessment
Two technical amendments are proposed for the standard regulating foods for infants. The new Code inadvertently omits mention of electrolytic iron, or variants such as reduced iron from permitted forms of iron, for addition to infant foods, particularly to infant cereal products. The proposal seeks to rectify this. The second change involves a clarification of the term 'juice' which, in the new Code, could be interpreted as diluted fruit drinks. Accordingly, the Code is to be amended so that diluted fruit drinks for infants are labelled as drinks, rather than juices.
Submissions:
Comment from interested organisations or individuals should be sent to FSANZ by Wednesday 16 October 2002 , except for P238, which closes on Wednesday 30 October 2002 .
Further information:
The Initial/Draft Assessment Reports and guidelines for submitters are on the FSANZ website at www.foodstandards.gov.au or www.foodstandards.govt.nz.