FoodLegal Bulletin, September 2009

FREE ARTICLE!

Australia’s fair trading and consumer protection agency, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC), has written the following letter to the Editor of FoodLegal Bulletin in response to our article critiquing an inconsistent and subjective approach taken by the ACCC in relation to its new policy on prominent ingredients.

FREE ARTICLE!

On Sunday 13 September 2009, fortification of folic acid in bread-making flour was required to be implemented in Australia as mandated by Standard 2.1.1 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. In practical effect, flour millers around Australia are required to introduce synthesized folic acid into Australia bread making flour, but the wide legal definition of "bread" means that Australians will be consuming extra folic acid when eating cakes and biscuits.

In September 2009, the Australian Government's Preventative Health Taskforce launched its National Health Preventative Strategy, aimed at reducing the chronic disease burden in Australia by tackling three lifestyle risk factors: obesity, tobacco and alcohol. In particular, this new Strategy makes a number of recommendations on food and beverage regulation in order to tackle Australia's obesity problem. This article of approximately 1830 words seeks to determine what may change for food and beverage suppliers.

The requirement that a non-food product be of a 'food grade' quality is frequently encountered in food safety and food manufacturing requirements. A comprehensive definition of what constitutes 'food grade', however, is not always so readily accessible. In this article of approximately 1800 words, we endeavour to cast more light on aspects of this terminology.

This article of approximately 1750 words considers the legal issues that arise when companies attempt to change or rectify existing labelling information on a package, such as the use-by date, or where someone thinks a labelling detail needs to be substituted for various reasons.

This article analyses the maze of often inconsistent guidelines pertaining to 'free range' in both the egg and chicken meat industries, and discusses whether there is need for greater legal uniformity. While this article is limited to the egg and chicken meat industries, the principles applied to the 'free range' claim can equally apply to other food products and industries, such as the pork industry.

Read further for additional food law further developments, including:

• South Australian milk vendors permitted to collectively bargain with processors
• FSANZ seeks submissions on genetically modified soybeans
• Federal Court declares allergy treatment misleading
• New Applications and Proposals for amending Food Standards Code
• Metcash reaches supply agreement with Foodworks

For those who are observing the Jewish New Year, we pray for good health, peace and happiness for our families and friends and those living in Israel.