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Call for review of food labelling standards.

FOOD LABELLING standards are to be reviewed by the federal government as concerns continue to rise over false health claims from food companies.  Also considered will be the call for colour coding on labels in a bid to assist consumers make informed health choices.

A meeting of the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council in Adelaide in October agreed to commission an independent review of food labelling law and policy.  The review panel would include experts in public health and economic and public policy and was expected to report back within a year.  It would examine potentially false health claims being made by food companies and consider the introduction of a traffic-light system of colour coding to detail the level of fats and sugars in foods.

In a related initiative, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) recently commissioned Pricewaterhouse Coopers to report on the cost of labelling changes for packagers in the food industry.  PwC's findings ae available on the FSANZ website (www.foodstandards.gov.au) and show costs arising from minor through to major changes in labelling across a range of products and packaging formats.