FoodLegal

November 2020 update on new regulatory developments and scientific developments that impact food producers and suppliers, beginning with Australia, but also internationally.

Whole Genome Sequencing (WGS) is a major opportunity for Australia to implement a comprehensive best-practice system for food pathogen surveillance using WGS technologies. Australia has potential to become a world leader in tracking foodborne pathogens and diseases across food supply chains domestically and internationally. This article identifies the regulatory impediments and inconsistencies relating to the collection and sharing of WGS data in Australia or for Australians, including privacy law issues. This article identifies the issues and solutions that could give Australia a leading edge if improvements were to be expedited.

As advancements in product innovation surpass the ambit of the existing prescribed food regulatory framework, it is important to understand whether a creative approach inadvertently results in a product no longer being regulated as food – particularly if there are questions around whether it is even digested.

Food classification systems based on the level of processing have become a growth research focus area for academics involved in nutrition policy development and nutrition advocacy. This article examines the findings and assumptions and links in relation to different research across all of this field. The article raises the interesting question of whether processing or the level of processing ought not to be the determinant of food nutrition when other criteria might be more strongly supported by the science.