A summary of regulatory developments in food law in Australia and internationally for the month of October 2021.

The claim “superfood” invokes the notion of superiority, particularly by comparison to other foods. This article explores whether the word “superfood” is regulated as a comparative claim, having regard to the further legal obligations that apply to comparative claims. This article also considers some of the legal risk exposure aspects in a “superfood” claim or descriptor, and the 4 key questions to assess when making a “superfood” claim.

On 1 July 2021 a number of amendments to the Australian Consumer Law and the Franchising Code of Conduct came into effect. These amendments go beyond franchise law changes but now also broaden the legal protection for many businesses buying and selling in B2B transactions. This article considers the amendments and the implications.

Exploration of new dietary sources for protein continues to attract considerable applied research by food nutritional scientists and technologists. New developments have emerged in understanding the value of new and old protein sources. Apart from the traditional protein sources of meat, milk, fish, eggs and dairy, new plant sources of protein have been the subject of considerable work as well as protein from a diversity of sources ranging from insects, micro- algae and laboratory produced proteins through fermentation or cell culture. Although soy protein has a long traditional history, other plant proteins have been utilized from legumes, seeds, cereals, nuts as well as well as vegetables and fruits. This article will discuss the context for developments in plant proteins and covering aspects such as differences in protein content and attributes and inadequacies of plant protein, and some regulatory considerations in using plant proteins as ingredients.