Foodlegal Bulletin

FoodLegal Bulletin, November, 2006

This article provides brief commentary on some of the latest Australian developments in Food Law including the status of Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Proposal P293 on Nutrition, Health and Related Claims, the new Scheme for Percentage Daily Intake Labelling, proposed changes to the Application process for changes to the Food Standards Code, and a new process for the assessment of import risks by Biosecurity Australia.

Food and the Battle Over Our Shrinking Water Supplies: How will Our Law-Makers and Key Players Resolve the Conflicts?
- Date Published | 20 November 2006

As drought-affected farmers know, Australia is a dry land. In early November 2006, the Prime Minister called State ministers to Canberra for a water summit to discuss responses to what was being called ‘the worst drought in 100 years’. This 3,000-word article analyses the issues facing governments and food producers in relation to water resources, examines the competing demands in relation to food production, and raises other issues that ought to be addressed by key players.

This article of 1800-words gives an overview of the law governing use of the word 'fresh' as a marketing descriptor in relation to food. This article also examines the legal and constitutional relationships between the different government agencies that are responsible for the laws in relation to food descriptors and the food law enforcement issues.

This 2,000 word article discusses how chocolate is made and how the food laws operate or apply in relation to chocolate. We also consider the potential problems for chocolate arising under the proposed new Nutrition, Health and Related Claims Standard under FSANZ Proposal P293.

This 1950-word article updates our earlier analysis from the October 2005 edition of the FoodLegal Bulletin. Specifically, we canvass developments in the push to formulate a national organic standard, compare the Australian experience with the situation existing overseas, and explore the choices and prospects for the Australian organic food industry in attaining the objective of giving the word ‘organic’ a legally binding meaning.

Halal is the description of foods that accord with Islamic dietary laws. The Halal food market is already a large one for Australian manufacturers covering not only Islamic consumers in Australia but also many export markets in the Middle East and South East Asia. In the August 2006 issue of our FoodLegal Bulletin, we looked at the requirements of Kosher foods which is based on Jewish religious dietary laws. In this 1,200 word article, we now discuss the definition of Halal foods for Islamic consumers, and we explain the legal requirements, and the process of certification.

Phytosterols or plant sterols are substances which have been found to reduce the absorption of cholesterol in humans. New amendments to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code have been passed to allow plant sterols to be added only to certain foods. This article looks at the current changes (as at November 2006).

This 1,000-word article looks at the laws in Australia relating to the sale of alcohol through online stores in Australia. This article also compares the Australian legal position to that of the US.