Food laws come in time for Christmas dinner

By MARTYN ATACK

Will your food be legal this Christmas?

Christmas may seem too far away to be anything more than a vague expectation, but for the food industry it represents a significant milestone in the harmonisation of New Zealand and Australian food laws.

On December 20 a new set of regulations, common to both countries, become law under the umbrella of closer economic relations.

Food produced for sale after this date must comply with the new regulations or it will be illegal. Many small food businesses may not know this or realise how long it may take to implement the requirements.

The new regulations, called the Joint Food Standards Code, will replace the present food laws and will bring a number of significant changes.

You may ask why these changes are necessary. The answer comes in two parts.

As consumers we want to make informed choices about the food we buy. Those with particular dietary requirements would have found the lack of information on labels has often made choosing the right foods difficult. The new rules have an emphasis on public health and safety and will make more information available for consumers.

So there is a health impact associated with labelling reform. Australian authorities have managed to put a number to this.

In an address to the Food Composition and Labelling Standards Conference in Sydney this year the managing director of the then Australian Food Standards Authority, Ian Lindenmayer, discussed a study that estimated delays to nutrition labelling would result in 320 to 460 additional deaths in Australia each year. The second part of the need for labelling reform comes from the food industry. Although they have different states of user friendliness, the present regulations of both Australia and New Zealand are seen as rigid and inflexible and stifle new product innovation.

The changes open up significant opportunities for innovation and competitiveness, as well as reducing the sometimes excessive cost of compliance under the old system.

In the meantime, products on the supermarket shelves on December 20 that don't comply with the new regulations can be sold for the next 12 months. As stocks are replaced they must have labels that meet the new rules.

The new laws are administered by Food Standards Australia New Zealand. You can visit its website at

Food Standards Australia New Zealand

* Martyn Atack, an independent consultant to the food industry, will speak at the Inaugural Food Safety Summit, August 27-29, at the Waipuna International Hotel. He can be contacted at martyn@atack.co.nz