FoodLegal Bulletin, November 2009

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The Australian government recently lifted a 13-year-old ban on beef imports from countries which had previously experienced an outbreak of mad cow disease. This article examines the question of when food safety laws can discriminate between food importers and domestic producers in the same produce category, such as in relation to unpasteurised cheeses.

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The beneficial link between folic acid fortification and reducing the number of babies born with neural tube defects is scientifically well documented. However, a scientific review with a 3000 word exploration of the peer-reviewed scientific literature on the subject has been submitted by a reader, David Franken, as a letter to the editor for publication in FoodLegal Bulletin. Based on the peer-reviewed studies, there is a real concern that mandatory folic acid fortification will significantly raise the average blood folate level of all Australian consumers. The concern is that this will have adverse health consequences for the broader Australian population if the referenced studies are applied to what has occurred in Australia through the new Food Standard 2.1.1 requirements mandating fortification at the prescribed levels of folic acid in flour.

The following article is an audio visual presentation delivered at FoodLegal’s Natural and Superfoods Symposium by Dr Peter Williams, who is an Associate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics at the Smart Foods Centre of the University of Wollongong. The title of this presentation is ‘How is “naturalness” in food perceived by consumers, used by manufacturers, and regulated by food authorities?: A descriptive pilot study’, which relates to a paper co-authored by Dr Williams, Veronique Chachay, Julijana Markoska, Anne McMahon, and Sara Grafenauer.

This article contains a 20MB QuickTime file.

This article, written by prominent food technologist Anthony Zipper, highlights previous examples of Food Standards Australia New Zealand not maintaining the adequate monitoring and surveillance promised in relation to the safety effects of new food standards.

The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code and other food laws make various references to numerical benchmarks in relation to the making of nutritional claims, such as vitamin and mineral claims. These benchmarks include ‘Recommended Dietary Intake’, ‘Daily Intake’ and other nutrient reference values such as ‘Upper Level’ and ‘Estimated Safe and Adequate Daily Dietary Intake’.  This article explores the differences between these reference values in the Food Standards Code, government nutritional guidelines and the proposed Health Claims Standard.

Microbial contamination of food with Listeria monocytogenes is a serious public health concern in Australia.  Listeria monocytogenes can cause the food-borne illness Listeriosis in vulnerable persons and can prove fatal as well as causing miscarriages.  This article of 1600 words examines the causes of Listeria monocytogenes contamination, the laws aimed at preventing such outbreaks and whether sampling is an effective mechanism for achieving this goal. 

Further additional food law developments, including:

• Policy Statement on Front-of-Pack Labelling endorsed by Ministerial Council
• Ministerial Council to address caffeine levels in food
• Government health warnings could unnecessarily damage an Australian food industry
• Committee endorses moves to amend Horticulture Code of Conduct
• New ACT zoning legislation: competitive or anti-competitive?