8 May 2002
Initial Assessment Report
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DEADLINE FOR PUBLIC SUBMISSIONS to the Authority in relation to this matter: 19 JUNE 2002 (See ' Invitation for Public Submissions ' for details) |
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INTRODUCTION
The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) is a bi-national statutory body responsible for developing draft food standards and draft variations of standards, to make recommendations to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Council (ANZFSC) in relation to those drafts, and to review standards. ANZFSC may then decide to adopt the draft standards or draft variations of standards, which results in their incorporation into food laws of the Australian States and Territories, and New Zealand.
On 24 November 2000, ANZFSC adopted the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (known as Volume 2 of theFood Standards Code) that will apply in both Australia and New Zealand. A two-year transitional period has been implemented at the conclusion of which Volume 2 of the Food Standards Code will be the sole code for both countries. In the interim, for the majority of the food standards, there is a system of dual standards operating in both Australia and New Zealand.
An application has been received on 2 April 2002, from Genencor International to amend the Food Standards Code to approve the use of an enzyme, Transglucosidase (TG) as a processing aid. Genencor' s representative for Australia and New Zealand is Enzyme/Citrus Services from NZ. This would involve amending Standard A16 of the Australian Food Standards Code (Volume 1) and Standard 1.3.3 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code(Volume 2). TG is produced with the use of a non-genetically modified organism,Aspergillus niger.
Transglucosidase is used as processing aids in the manufacture of isomalto-oligosaccharides (IMO) in the starch industry. These IMO syrups have use in a range of food industries (such as beverage, confectionery and baking) where their properties have advantages over other sugar solutions.
REGULATORY PROBLEM
There is currently no approval for the use of TG as a processing aid in Standard A16 (Volume 1) and Standard 1.3.3 (Volume 2) of theFood Standards Code. There may be no need to amend Volume 1 for the purposes of this application since it is expected that
Volume 1 will be rescinded by December 2002. A processing aid is a substance used in the processing of raw materials, foods or ingredients, to fulfil a technological purpose relating to treatment or processing, but does not perform a technological function in the final food. An application is required to assess whether the Food Standards Code can be amended to permit the use of TG as a processing aid.
OBJECTIVE
The applicant is seeking to amend Standard A16 (Volume 1) and Standard 1.3.3 (Volume 2) of the Food Standards Code to approve the use of TG sourced from Aspergillus niger as a processing aid.
Such an amendment will need to be consistent with the section 10 objectives of the ANZFA Act, which are given below.
(1) The objectives (in descending priority order) of the Authority in developing food regulatory measures and variations of food regulatory measures are:
(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.
(2) In developing food regulatory measures and variations of food regulatory measures, the Authority 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.
Full Report [ pdf ]