2. Purpose of the Re-assessment of 2003 Labels for Nutrition, Health and Related Claims
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Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is reviewing their regulatory framework with regard to the use of nutrition, health and related claims on food labels, taking into account the Ministerial Council’s Policy Guideline on nutrition, health and related claims, the health of the population, industry innovation, consumer information and international trends in the latter areas.
The purpose of this component of the project is to assess the 2003 labels in relation to:
a) the proportion of labels by food category carrying nutrition claims and health claims;
b) the types of claims being made on the basis of how these claims may be classified according to future regulatory requirements as defined in the Proposal P293 Initial Assessment Report on Nutrition, Health and Related Claims (FSANZ 2004b) (See Appendix 1);
c) the representation used for the claim (wording, symbol or otherwise);
d) the components of the claim and the claimed benefit of the food;
e) which labelling provisions the claims have been developed to comply with; and
f) the consistency of the claim with these provisions.
This report presents the results from the assessment of labels collected in 2003 for nutrition claims and health claims.
2.1 Labelling regulations relevant to Australia and New Zealand
There is currently a prohibition on health and related claims in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Food Code) express or implied, with the exception of the folate/neural tube defect health claim [1] .
The Food Code applies to packaged food produced in, and imported into Australia and New Zealand. Under Standard 1.2.8 of the Food Code, a small number of nutrition content claims are specified, including content claims in relation to sodium, energy, gluten, lactose and certain fatty acids.
Vitamin and mineral content claims, including claims that a food is a ‘good source’ of a vitamin or mineral, are regulated in Standard 1.3.2 – Vitamins and Minerals in the Food Code. There are also a small number of related claims, including claims in relation to electrolyte drinks and formulated supplementary sports food that are permitted by certain commodity standards in the Food Code.
2.2 Labelling regulations relevant to Australia
The majority of nutrition content claims in Australia, such as ‘high fibre’, ‘reduced fat’ and ‘no added sugar’ are managed through the voluntary Code of Practice on Nutrient Claims in Food Labels and in Advertisements (National Food Authority, 1995) (CoPoNC). This code of practice is intended to be used by all food suppliers in Australia, including manufacturers, importers, wholesalers, distributors, packers and retailers. However, only the major food industry bodies have agreed to the code of practice through adoption by reference into the Code of Conduct of Information on Food Products (GMA 1995).
In Australia, the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Commonwealth)(TPA) and the relevant State and Territory Fair Trading Acts also prohibit conduct that is false, misleading, or deceptive.
2.3 Labelling regulations relevant to New Zealand
In New Zealand, since the repeal of the New Zealand Food Regulations 1984, the majority of nutrition claims are managed by reference to the general provisions in the New Zealand Fair Trading Act 1986(FTA), which require that any representations in the course of trade and commerce regarding food must not be false or misleading.
In addition to the FTA, Section 10 of the New ZealandFood Act 1981has provisions that prohibit misleading labelling and packaging of food. Whilst claims were not directly assessed against these provisions in the current survey, if any claims were assessed as inconsistent with the FTA, this would have indicated an inconsistency with the New ZealandFood Act 1981.
The New Zealand Dietary Supplement Regulations 1985 (NZDSR) are made under the New Zealand Food Act 1981. The NZDSR has specific labelling requirements that relate to all dietary supplements, including the prohibition of therapeutic claims.
2.4 FSANZ Label Monitoring Survey
The FSANZ Label Monitoring Survey was initiated with the intention of developing an on-going monitoring system for food labels as part of the FSANZ Evaluation Strategy 2001-2003 (FSANZ 2001).
A pilot label monitoring survey (Phase 1) was undertaken in two stages to provide baseline data.
The intention of the pilot survey was to provide an indication of the rate of adoption of the new mandatory labelling provisions and the use of voluntary labelling provisions. Stage 1 of the pilot covered the collection of 1200 labels for assessment of 12 food label elements, from July-December 2002. Stage 2 of the pilot covered the assessment of the same 12 food label elements on 1200 labels collected from July-December 2003. Nutrition, health and related claims were not part of either Stage 1 or Stage 2 assessments.
After a two-year transition period, the Food Code came into full effect on 20 December 2002 in Australia, and in February 2003 in New Zealand. Stage 1 of the pilot was therefore undertaken during the transition period when foods could still be produced and labelled under the old labelling provisions, while Stage 2 was carried out after the new Code came into effect as the sole set of labelling provisions.
The Label Monitoring Survey is now entering its second phase under the FSANZ Evaluation Strategy for 2004-2008 (FSANZ 2004a). One component (Part C) of Phase 2 is the reassessment of labels collected in 2003 (Stage 2) against food labelling provisions covering nutrition, health and related claims.
[1] FSANZ has permitted a trial health claim on claims about the benefit of maternal consumption of folate, to prevent neural tube defects (eg. spina bifida) in developing foetuses and more than one hundred products have temporary permission to carry the claim.
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