PROPOSAL P273 - INTENSE SWEETENERS IN JELLY
08/03
19 March 2003
INITIAL/DRAFT ASSESSMENT REPORT s.36
DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS to the Authority in relation to this matter: |
Full Report [ pdf 205kb ]
Executive Summary and Statement of Reasons
Until their repeal in December 2002, the New Zealand Food Regulations, 1984 (NZFR) and the then Volume 1 of theFood Standards Code permitted the use of cyclamates and saccharin in low joule jelly. Currently the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) does not permit the use of cyclamates and saccharin in jelly.
The regulatory problem is that industry in both Australia and New Zealand has an established history of the use of cyclamates and saccharin in low joule jellies. During the recent review of food standards, neither industry or government submissions from New Zealand or Australia ever remarked the omission from the Code of the permissions for the use of cyclamate and saccharin in low joule jelly. Only late in the transition period, shortly before repeal of the then Volume 1 of the Food Standards Code and the NZFR, was the issue of the omissions raised as a problem for the manufacturers of these products. Although other intense sweeteners are permitted in the Code, it seems that almost all low joule jellies produced in Australia and New Zealand use only cyclamates and saccharin.
Without permission in the Code for the use of cyclamates and saccharin in jelly, consumers of these specialty products will be disadvantaged. Consumers of these products include people with type 1 or type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, or other conditions calling for weight loss and/or dietary sugar restriction.
Because of the anomaly between industry use and permissions in the Code, there is a strong public interest relating to the effective administration in the food regulatory system that justifies this proposal being placed in Work Plan Group 1. This Proposal does not significantly adversely affect the interests of any person or body and so it is intended to progress this matter under section 36 of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act, 1991, omitting one round of public comment.
After consideration of the issues associated with technological justification for the use of the intense sweeteners in low joule jelly, and with the dietary modelling that assessed the likely exposure to cyclamates and saccharin from low joule jelly, FSANZ recommends that Item 20.2 Mixed Foods, sub-item jelly in Schedule 1 of Standard 1.3.1 – Food Additives be amended to include permissions for the use of cyclamates and saccharin in jelly at the maximum permitted levels of 1600 mg/kg and 150 mg/kg respectively in the final food.
Reasons for these recommendations are that the proposed amendment:
- will resolve the unforeseen anomalies between the use of cyclamates and saccharin by jelly manufacturers and current Code permissions;
- is technologically justified because manufacturers will be permitted to use low cost and highly stable intense sweeteners with favourable taste profiles in low joule jellies;
- presents no significant increase in risk to public health and safety because the contribution of low joule jelly to the overall intake of cyclamates and saccharin is likely to be insignificant even for high consumers of these sweeteners;
- is unlikely to have a significant effect on international trade because the proposed amendment broadens intense sweetener permissions rather than restricts them, which would have the effect of a slight increase in international trade in jelly, although the volume and value the of international trade in low joule jelly is not high; and
will result in significant benefits to consumers (including people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, obesity, hypertension, or other conditions calling for weight loss and/or dietary sugar restriction) and manufacturers, which will outweigh the significant costs associated with the unavailability of locally made low joule jelly.
Full Report [ pdf 205kb ]