FoodLegal Bulletin, August 2008 Issue >>

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A recent decision by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (‘FSANZ’) to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to permit the use of steviol glycosides as food additives is going to cause quite a stir in the Australian sweeteners market.

On 14 July 2008, new legislation came into operation in the State of Victoria which requires providers of children’s services to have an anaphylaxis management policy. This groundbreaking legislation is considered in further analysis by this article.

The Victorian Department of Human Services (‘DHS’) has requested that submissions be made by 2 September 2008 with regards to its Consultation Paper setting out proposals to amend Victoria’s Food Act 1984 in the follow-up to the September 2007 report by the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission (‘VCEC’). VCEC is a body that operates within the Victorian Treasury and has played an important role in policy formation for the Victorian government across many areas of governance. Its investigations and findings in the food regulatory field should be an eye-opener for all other jurisdictions and create the opportunity for consistent policy implementation at a national level if and when other State and Territory jurisdictions become interested in adopting similar recommendations.

Changes broadening the scope of food labelling requirements under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code for food catering businesses were introduced on 10 July 2008. The revised Standards will have broad implications throughout the food industry affecting food suppliers, caterers, retailers, vending machine operators, municipal government environmental health personnel, food inspectors and quality assurance auditors. FoodLegal provides an analysis of the new requirements and some of the wide-ranging implications throughout Australia.

Everyday, more products are being developed that blur the legal lines between what constitutes a food and what constitutes a medicine or therapeutic product. Given that the composition, safety and advertising related to each category is monitored by different State, Territory and Federal authorities, it is important to consider two recent law cases involving claims by different companies about the health effects of products.

On 7 August 2008, the New Zealand Food Safety Authority announced its approach to the proposal to allow more raw milk products to be produced or sold in New Zealand. On 6 August 2008, Food Standards Australia New Zealand released a discussion paper on a proposed new primary production standard in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code for raw milk products. We discuss these developments and implications for the production and sale of raw milk products in Australia.

More of the latest food law developments including:

• ACCC recommends unit pricing
• New rules proposed for labelling of infant foods
• New mandatory fortification
• New country of origin labelling requirements