8 May 2002
Initial Assessment Report
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DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS to the Authority in relation to this matter: |
Full Report [ pdf 213kb ]
INTRODUCTION
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) is a bi-national statutory body responsible for developing and reviewing food standards for Australia and New Zealand. ANZFA makes recommendations on changes to food standards to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council, a Ministerial Council made up of Commonwealth, State and Territory and New Zealand Health Ministers. If the Council approves the recommendations made by ANZFA, the food standards are automatically adopted as regulations into the food laws of the Australian States and Territories and New Zealand.
On 24 November 2000, the Ministerial Council adopted the new joint Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (also referred to as Volume 2 of the Food Standards Code ). The new joint code will replace the Australian Food Standards Codeand the New Zealand Food Regulations 1984 by January 2003. During the two-year transition period, foods may comply with either the old regulations or the new code but not a combination of both.
An application has been received from the New South Wales Department of Health (NSW Health) seeking an amendment to Volume 2 of theFood Standards Code to require restaurants and other food outlets to notify if monosodium glutamate (MSG) has been added during food preparation.
REGULATORY PROBLEM
Volume 2 of the Food Standards Code (subclause 8 (7) of Standard 1.2.4 Labelling of Ingredients) requires MSG and other glutamates (monopotassium L-glutamate, calcium di-L-glutamate, monoammonium L-glutamate, magnesium di-L-glutamate) to be specifically declared by their name or code number in the ingredient list when they are added to a food as flavouring. For unpackaged food and food prepared in restaurants and other types of food outlets, there is no requirement to specifically declare MSG or other glutamates by their name or code number in the ingredient list.
The application from NSW Health is seeking an amendment to Volume 2 of the Food Standards Code to require restaurants and other food outlets to declare if MSG has been added during food preparation.
OBJECTIVE
NSW Health is specifically seeking to have MSG included in the Table to clause 4 of Standard 1.2.3 Mandatory Warning and Advisory Statements and Declarations.
Clause 4 of Standard 1.2.3 operates by requiring the presence in a food of any of the substances listed in the Table to be declared when present as an ingredient, an ingredient of a compound ingredient, a food additive or component of a food additive, or a processing aid or component of a processing aid. The substances must be declared on the label on a package of the food, or where the food is not required to bear a label, their presence must be indicated on or in connection with the display of the food or provided to the purchaser upon request.
In justifying the need for the application, NSW Health state that a report compiled by the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB) in 1995 concluded that an unknown percentage of the population may react to MSG and develop MSG symptom complex. NSW Health argue that as existing food standards require declaration of MSG addition with respect to food sold in packages, it is inconsistent that no such declaration is required in restaurants and other food outlets. They further argue that consumers have a right to know which foods contain added MSG, and this information should not be limited to those foods sold in packages and requiring an ingredient list.
The application will be considered against the objective of the Authority in developing food regulatory measures as presented in section 10 of ANZFA Act.
ANZFA' s objectives in developing and varying food food regulatory measures are (in descending priority order):
(a) the protection of public health and safety; and
(b) the provision of adequate information relating to food to enable consumers to make informed choices; and
(c) the prevention of misleading or deceptive conduct.
In developing and varying food standards, ANZFA must also have regard to the following:
(a) the need for standards to be based on risk analysis using the best available scientific evidence;
(b) the promotion of consistency between domestic and international food standards;
(c) the desirability of an efficient and internationally competitive food industry;
(d) the promotion of fair trading in food.
In addressing the issue of the mandatory declaration of MSG by restaurants and food outlets, the key objectives are the protection of public health and safety and the provision of adequate information to consumers. In determining if a public health and safety risk exists, ANZFA will give due regard for the need for standards to be based on risk analysis using the best available scientific evidence.
Full Report [ pdf 213kb ]