Supplement regulation change

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority (NZFSA) is proposing to update decades-old regulations for food-type dietary supplements.

The move will bring the laws surrounding the manufacture and sale of complementary foods into line with the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.

Carole Inkster, NZFSA director of Food Standards said: "The range of products being sold under the current regulations is far broader than could have been imagined when the regulations were first set down.

"Where once a dietary supplement was most likely to be in tablet or capsule form, nowadays many look more like ordinary food and drinks with added vitamins, minerals and other nutritive substances.

"However, unlike ordinary foods regulated under the code, complementary foods involve little or no safety assessments. This can lead to problems such as the lack of warning labels or appropriate advice on the safe use of products, where there may be reasons against certain population groups using them (those on some medications, for example).

A new discussion paper, Proposed Changes to the Regulation of Dietary Supplements, explains how the new regulations might work.