Nutrient reference values in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code — a potential revision
Nutrient reference values (NRVs) indicate the daily amount of nutrients required for good health, as well as a safe intake of nutrients. The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and the New Zealand Ministry of Health (NZ MOH) released a comprehensive set of NRVs for Australia and New Zealand in 2006.
The 2006 NRVs replaced the previous Recommended Dietary Intakes for Use in Australia (RDIs ) which were published in 1991, and adopted by New Zealand. The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code currently uses the 1991 RDIs as the basis of regulatory nutrient reference values (rNRVs) for vitamins, minerals and protein. An rNRV is an amount of a nutrient derived from the official NRVs and used in the Code to guide regulation of nutrient composition and labelling of food products.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is considering revising the current rNRVs used in the Code, basing the new rNRVs on the NRVs released by the NHMRC and NZ MOH in 2006.
In July 2010, FSANZ released a consultation paper and invited comment from interested parties on underlying principles, relevant issues and potential approaches to revising the rNRVs. FSANZ also consulted with key stakeholders through a series of webinars attended by representatives of the food industry, jurisdictions, health professionals and academics.
There were 42 submissions received during the consultation undertaken in 2010. Submitters were generally positive about revising the rNRVs in the Code. The report summarising submitter responses is available here
Next steps
FSANZ is now considering how best to progress this work. Several factors relevant to both the approach and timing of a revision were identified in the consultation. The Australian Government released Labelling Logic - Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy in January 2011. The Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council is developing a whole-of-government response to the recommendations of this final report, which is expected by the end of 2011.It is possible that future work on the presentation of labelling information, which would be underpinned by the rNRVs, could arise from the government response.
There will also be a review of the NRVs by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC). The timing and details of this review and the impact of any revisions are unknown. FSANZ is liaising with the Australian Department of Health and Ageing and NHMRC so we are informed about the process and timeframes.
Although a revision of the rNRVs is generally supported by stakeholders, we consider that a formal proposal to revise the rNRVs should align with other potential labelling changes and that it would be best to defer a review until details of the government response to the Labelling Review are known. This would give us an opportunity to consider any potential labelling changes strategically and address them in a systematic and timely manner. Meanwhile FSANZ will continue working on overarching and technical issues raised by stakeholders in preparation for the revision of the rNRVs.