APPLICATION A503 - COLLAGEN – PROCESSING AID FOR WINE
11/03
13 August 2003
INITIAL ASSESSMENT REPORT
Full Report [ pdf 196kb ]
DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC SUBMISSIONSto FSANZ in relation to this matter: 24 September 2003 (See ‘Invitation for Public Submissions’ for details)
Executive Summary and Statement of Reasons
FSANZ received an application from Devro Pty Ltd to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) to permit the use of collagen as a processing aid during production of wine. It is a Group 3 (cost-recovered) application. The applicant requested that Standard 4.1.1 – Wine Production Requirements (Australia only) be amended accordingly.
The purpose of this Application is to permit the use of an alternative wine clarifying agent. The applicant claims that collagen is considered as a traditional food and therefore it is already approved as a general processing aid, under Standard 1.3.3 – Processing Aids. All wine produced in Australia must comply with Standard 4.1.1 (as well as Standard 2.7.4 – Wine and Wine Product) so an amendment to Standard 4.1.1 is requested to specifically include collagen in the list of approved processing aids.
This current Application is similar to another application A482 – Plant Proteins as Wine Processing Aids which FSANZ is currently considering.
Collagen is claimed to act in a comparable way to other widely used proteinaceous materials such as gelatine and fish collagen (isinglass) to irreversibly bind and remove polyphenolic and tannin materials from wine. These materials precipitate out and are removed along with most of the added collagen.
Collagen is not approved elsewhere in the world specifically for wine treatment as a processing aid to clarify wine.
This Initial Assessment is not an assessment of the merits of the Application but rather whether it warrants further consideration according to the criteria laid down in section 13 of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991. FSANZ accepts this application following initial assessment for the following reasons:
- The application seeks approval for the use of collagen as a processing aid in wine production.
- Under Standard 4.1.1, only those substances specified in the Table to clause 4 may be used as processing aids in the production of wine. Currently, collagen is not specified as a permitted processing aid in this Table.
- Therefore, the application relates to a matter that warrants a variation to Standard 4.1.1, if further assessment supports such a variation.
- This application is not so similar to any previous application that it ought not be accepted.
- There is no basis for considering, at this stage of assessment, that the costs that would arise from a variation to Standard 4.1.1 to permit collagen as a processing aid would outweigh the direct and indirect benefits to the community, Government or industry that would arise from the variation.
- There are no measures other than a variation to the Code available to permit a processing aid for wine production.
The application has been accepted following Initial Assessment on this basis.
Full Report [ pdf 196kb ]