Joint Food Standards Code Arrives

20 December 2002

Joint Food Standards Code Arrives

The New Zealand Food Safety Authority today welcomed the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code taking full effect.

“Work towards the Food Standards Code began in 1995 and huge resources have been put into the development of it right across the food industry – from consumer groups to manufacturers and retailers, as well as a number of government departments. The resulting Code is a credit to all those who have worked on it,” NZFSA Executive Director Dr Andrew McKenzie says.

“The Code brings our food labelling and composition regulations into the 21st century, it protects public health and safety while at the same time minimising regulations for manufacturers and producers,” Dr McKenzie said.

Consumers should notice the difference in the labelling on the food they buy. Under the Code manufacturers have to provide consumers with more information about what’s in the food they are eating. This will allow consumers to make more informed choices.

“Under the new Code manufacturers are required to include nutrition information panels on their products. NIPs will outline the amount of energy (kilojoules), protein, total fat, saturated fat, total carbohydrates, sugars and sodium in that product.”

“Consumers with allergies to some common foods will be able to tell at a glance whether that food contains the product they are allergic to. These include foods like nuts, seafood, fish, milk, gluten, eggs and soybeans.”

“Regulators will be rewarded for their effort by having a single modern set of food composition and labelling standards. Previously the food industry had three different sets of legislation to comply with for labelling and composition – the New Zealand Food Regulations 1984, the Australia Food Standards Code and the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. Regulators naturally had a difficult job checking compliance because of this. With the full introduction of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code their job has just got easier,” Dr McKenzie said.

Ends

© Scoop Media