Ministerial Forum discusses THC in food, labelling review

The Australian and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation has met in Brisbane to discuss issues such as the legalisation of hemp as food and labelling reform. Comprised of Ministers from Australia and New Zealand and the Australian Local Government Association, the forum is responsible for maintaining a strong food regulation system based on scientific evidence.

The Ministers identified synthetic foods as an emerging area of interest and asked Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to prepare a report on potential safety, nutritional and labelling issues. Regarding allergen labelling, it was agreed that further work should be undertaken by FSANZ through the Allergen Collaboration to promote the uptake of voluntary labelling initiatives.

Technical evaluation on added sugars and vegetable oils

The 2011 Labelling Logic: Review of Food Labelling Law and Policy (2011) made 61 recommendations, including a proposal that, where sugars, fats or vegetable oils are added as separate ingredients in food, the terms ‘added sugars’ and ‘added fats’ and/or ‘added vegetable oils’ be used in the ingredient list as the generic term, followed by a bracketed list — eg, added sugars (fructose, glucose syrup, honey), added fats (palm oil, milk fat) or added vegetable oils (sunflower oil, palm oil).

A technical evaluation by FSANZ has identified a number of developments in food labelling and dietary advice since the initial review was undertaken. The report will be made available on the FSANZ website shortly.

Low-THC hemp as a food

A research project is underway to evaluate the impact of the consumption of low-THC hemp as a food in regards to police roadside drug tests.

Health Star Rating (HSR) system

At least 115 companies have adopted the Health Star Rating (HSR) system, with more than 5500 products displaying the HSR system graphic in Australia at the end of September 2016 and more than 2100 in New Zealand.

Evaluation in September 2016 found that consumer awareness of the HSR system has increased to around 59%, with 33% of those aware of the system purchasing a new product because it had a higher HSR than their usual product.

Food regulation website

A new standalone website, www.foodregulation.gov.au, has been launched to better explain the collaborative joint food regulation system.

The next meeting of the forum is scheduled for April 2017 in Adelaide.