FSANZ, changes to food code
on the table as the nascent food authority in Oceania calls for
comments on its food standards code.
The Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is calling for comments on a range of possible changes to the existing food code.
First up, a proposal to 'rectify the inadvertent omission of sodium selenate as a permitted form of selenium' and to clarify permissions for the L-amino acid 'cysteine' in infant formula products.
German company Wacker Chemie has applied to approve alpha-cyclodextrin as a novel food, claiming it has dietary fibre-like properties. Alpha-cyclodextrin, produced from starch by an enzymatic process, can be used as a carrier for natural colours, flavours and vitamins, a solubiliser of lipids ,a stabiliser of oil in water emulsions, or a flavour or aroma modifier in a variety of processed foods.
Still with novel foods, FSANZ said that it has received an application from Ecolab to permit the use of octanoic acid as an antimicrobial agent on red meat and poultry carcasses as well as fresh fruits and vegetables.
Moving on to maximum residue limits, the agency said that the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority (formerly the National Registration Authority for Agricultural and Veterinary Medicines) has applied to FSANZ for maximum residue limits (MRLs) for certain agricultural and veterinary chemicals in the code.
'The dietary exposure assessments indicate that the residues associated with the proposed MRLs do not represent an unacceptable risk to public health and safety. There are no antibiotic MRLs in these applications,' said the authority.
Turning to enzymes, FSANZ proposed to formally review the enzymes listed in the Food Standards Code in order to 'fully harmonise the Australian and New Zealand food regulations under the Code'.
Matters being considered as part of the review include the naming of these enzymes and source organisms, the safety of currently approved enzymes, the safety of by-products of enzymatic reactions, guidelines for the safety assessment of enzymes, and enzymes not currently used in Australia and New Zealand.
Moving on to wine, according to the authority the company Devro has applied to use collagen as an alternative clarifying agent for wine.
'The assessment concludes that collagen poses no risk to public health and safety and that collagen is technologically justified as a wine processing aid,' said FSANZ.
Comments should be sent to the authority by the end of February. Further details can be obtained from the website.
