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Food allergies
Food allergies A food allergy occurs when a person's immune system reacts to allergens in food. Most food allergies are caused by peanuts, tree nuts, milk, eggs, sesame seeds, fish and shellfish, soy, lupin and wheat. These must be declared on the food label, whenever they are present in food as ingredients (or as components of food additives or processing aids), however small the amounts present. On 25 February 2021 the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) was amended to introduce new requirements for the labelling of allergens in food. The changes will make allergen information on food labels clearer and more consistent for food-allergic consumers by requiring simple, plain English allergen declarations in a specific format and location on food labels. More information…
Published 1 December 2021
Food from cloned animals
Food from cloned animals (March 2016) Animal cloning is a type of reproductive technology. It creates an animal that is an exact genetic copy of another animal. The commercial use of cloned animals in agriculture has so far mainly been confined to the meat and dairy industries. The most common cloning method involves removing the genetic material from an unfertilised egg and replacing it with the complete genetic material from the animal to be cloned (the donor animal). The egg is then implanted into a surrogate mother who gives birth to an animal that is a clone of the donor animal. The cloned animal is then bred with other animals to pass on its desirable characteristics. Cloning is different to genetic modification. Genetic modification involves adding, taking away, or modifying genes. Cloning does not…
Published 8 September 2021
Food irradiation
Food irradiation New provisions permitting the irradiation of fresh fruit and vegetables as a means of controlling the spread of insect pests like fruit fly across our quarantine borders were gazetted in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) on 22 July 2021. This follows FSANZ's May 2021 approval of an application by the Queensland Government Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to irradiate all types of fresh fruit and vegetables as a phytosanitary (pest control) measure. For more information about this application see:
Irradiation of fruit and vegetables
Irradiation of fruit and vegetables We recently approved an application by the Queensland Government Department of Agriculture and Fisheries to irradiate all types of fresh fruit and vegetables as a phytosanitary measure (i.e. to control the spread of pests like fruit fly). Changes to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code) to include this new permission were gazetted on 22 July 2021. Irradiation has been used in Australia and New Zealand for 20 years and internationally since the 1950s. This approval extends previous code permissions for 26 fruit and vegetables to cover all fruit and vegetables for one purpose only - to stop pests moving from one quarantine region to another. Irradiated food is safe Irradiated foods are not…
Published 22 July 2021
Nanotechnology and Food
Nanotechnology and Food (September 2022) What is nanotechnology? Nanotechnology describes a range of technologies used to manipulate materials that are generally less than 100 nanometres (nm) in size in one dimension. One nm is one billionth of a metre. Are nanotechnologies being used in foods? There is little evidence to suggest nanotechnologies are being used in the food industry on a wide scale, although a lot of research is being undertaken on potential applications. Future applications of nanotechnologies could include nanostructured food products, nanoscale or nano-encapsulated food additives, or food packaging with improved properties. There are, however, certain foods including food additives that naturally contain nanoscale particles. Are nanoscale materials new? Nanoscale…
Published 28 September 2022
Expert reaction - nanoparticles in baby formula
Expert reaction - nanoparticles in baby formula (July 2017) The following expert reaction to media reports on tests commissioned by Friends of the Earth which found the presence of nanoparticles in several Australian infant formula products has been reproduced with the permission of the Australian science Media Centre: Adjunct Professor Andrew Bartholomaeus is a consultant toxicologist with Adjunct Professor appointments at the University of Canberra and the University of Queensland. He has previously been the Chief Toxicologist for the Therapeutic Goods Administration and the General Manager of the Risk Assessment Branch of FSANZ. 'The Friends of the Earth slide deck presents the rather unexciting and facile observation that a food containing high levels of…
Published 2 July 2017
How the Code deals with vitamins and minerals that are added to foods
How the Code deals with vitamins and minerals that are added to foods (August 2018) How the Code deals with vitamin and mineral that are added to foods
- When a vitamin or mineral is added to food, the Code outlines requirements relating to the identity of the substance. For example only particular chemical forms of a mineral are able to be used.
- When a chemical form is used it has to be compliant with a relevant 'specification' as listed in the Code.
- Schedule 3 of the Code lists published sources for specifications relating to the identity and purity for the permitted forms of minerals. There are several sources listed. These specifications are internationally accepted
- Schedule 29 of the Code lists…
Published 3 August 2018
Nanoparticles and infant formula
Nanoparticles and infant formula Nanoscale materials are not new. Food is naturally composed of nanoscale sugars, amino acids, peptides and proteins, many of which form organised, functional nanostructures. For example, proteins are in the nanoscale size range and milk contains an emulsion of nanoscale fat droplets. Humans, including infants, have consumed these particles in foods throughout history without evidence of adverse health effects related to the materials nanoscale size. On this page
January 2018 The issue In recent years there have been several media reports about the presence of nanoparticles in…Published 3 August 2018
Food technologies and novel foods
Food technologies and novel foods In this section
Response to Pinget et al 2019 study on nanoparticles in food
Response to Pinget et al 2019 study on nanoparticles in food In May 2019 a study was released linking titanium dioxide particles with inflammatory bowel diseases and bowel cancer. FSANZ has reviewed the study and determined it does not change our previous assessment of titanum dioxide. The study's limitations mean that no conclusion can be drawn from it about titanium dioxide and inflammatory bowel diseases and bowel cancer. The reasons for our conclusion are set out below. TiO2 has been tested in long-term carcinogenicity studies in rats and mice, in which TiO2 was fed in the diet at concentrations sufficient to cause white faeces. These studies found no evidence of inflammatory changes or induction of tumours. The International Agency for Research on…
Published 19 June 2019