New Food Regulation Forum meets

The Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council has been the body determining food regulation for many years. Recently the first meeting of it’s replacement, the Legislative and Governance Forum on Food Regulation, was held to discuss the Food Labelling Review Report (sometimes known as the Blewett report).

The major decision made on the day was the agreement, by all Ministers, to the development of a National Nutrition Policy. This will make nutrition and preventative health the centre of any reforms to food labelling.

Government guidelines from the Policy will then set the role that our food standards will have in supporting the objectives of public health and therefore, the direction that Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) will take in the future in the development and maintenance of the Food Standards Code.

It was a busy meeting, with other major decisions made including;

Front-of-pack labelling -An agreement that some form of easy to understand front of pack labelling is required for packaged foods, however, it will not be in the form of the traffic lights recommended in the Blewett Report. The Forum has set a deadline of a year for the discussions with all stakeholders and the development of a suitable system.

Pregnancy warning labels on alcohol –voluntary pregnancy labelling will be allowed for two years before this becomes a requirement.

Health claims on packaged foods and drinks –FSANZ has been given the task of doing consultation with all stakeholders on the draft standard for Nutrition, Health and Related Claims.

Food Safety Management Policy Guideline – for retail and food service sectors. It was agreed that this needs to be developed as a framework for standardising the food safety approach in these industry sectors across the country.

The Forum is chaired by the Catherine King, the Commonwealth Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, who said, “In considering its response to the recommendations, the Forum proposed actions over the next five years that endeavour to improve information on food labels to meet consumers’ needs, and minimize regulatory burden on industry and barriers to trade.”