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Food Focus November 2007

NZFSA – the year in review

It’s been a busy – and significant – year for NZFSA. We celebrated our fifth birthday and our move to a fully autonomous Public Service department. Food Focus takes time out to look back on the issues we’ve dealt with over the year and documents some of the good, bad and ugly

October 2006

Government announces its approval of a package of NZFSA recommendations designed to update and streamline New Zealand’s outdated food laws. The move follows NZFSA’s extensive Domestic Food Review, a major three-year project initiated when the organisation was set up in 2002.

Its aim has been to modernise New Zealand’s entire decades-old food regulatory programme to ensure the country’s vital food sector is positioned to deal with the significant growth expected over the next 20 years.

Work gets underway to draft the legislation for the new Food Bill, parts of which are likely to be implemented over five years from July 2008. The new Food Act will see food regulation move from an inspection-based approach to one that places responsibility for food safety on the person in charge of the food operation.

November 2006

A new NZFSA booklet written specifically for the country’s estimated 90,000 food allergy sufferers is launched by Annette King, Minister for Food Safety during NZFSA’s 4^th annual conference held in Auckland.

Eating Safely When You Have Food Allergies explains the symptoms and diagnosis of food allergies, includes what to look for on food labels and has tips for maintaining a healthy diet.

Ms King tells conference delegates: “The issue is one of increasing concern among consumers, as new and novel foods and ingredients become more available. Managing the public perception of allergens is a complicated issue and one that needs to be addressed.”

December 2006

New Zealand and European Union negotiators agree a disease outbreak strategy proposal that has significant economic benefits should New Zealand ever have a serious animal health disease, such as Foot and Mouth.

The agreement is the result of nearly two years of talks between EU officials and NZFSA, Biosecurity New Zealand and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. It establishes and pre-agrees conditions that would be applied to New Zealand exports, such as dairy and meat products, in the event of a serious animal disease, and would allow trade to continue.

NZFSA’s director, Dr Andrew McKenzie says the agreement represents “a significant milestone in international trade ... and one that provides an international model for managing problems affecting our agricultural trade.”

February 2007

NZFSA moves to modernise the food safety importing requirements for beef and beef products in light of new science and practical knowledge surrounding bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE).

The changes reflect recent findings from the growing body of science that more accurately identifies the risks and measures required to protect consumers from variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease (vCJD) the human disease which has been linked to eating beef offal containing the BSE agent.

The new measures have undergone a comprehensive process of review and expert consideration to ensure they are consistent with scientific evidence and the emerging international standards. New Zealand has been classified as BSE-free by the World Organization for Animal Health.

March 2007

Leading international food safety experts from NZFSA, Australia, Canada and the United States (collectively known as the Quadrilateral Group or Quads) meet in Paihia to discuss the best ways to provide safe and suitable food for consumers. Delegates consider dairy product risk assessment and management issues, nutrition and labelling, and equivalence in international food safety systems. The implementation of a Code of Practice on meat hygiene is one of the topics on the agenda.

As a major meat exporter, New Zealand plays a key role in development of the CoP. NZFSA’s (then Executive Director) Dr Andrew McKenzie says: “This meeting gives New Zealand the chance to review the implementation phase, share our experiences and discuss and resolve issues.”

April 2007

NZFSA and the Ministry for the Environment (MfE) are jointly awarded a $735,000 grant from the Ministry of Research, Science and Technology, to help further research into Campylobacter, a leading cause of foodborne illness in New Zealand. The two organisations will work together to administer research which will enable scientists to investigate how the bacteria behaves in the food chain and the environment.

NZFSA risk analyst Peter van der Logt says: “Securing the funding is a significant achievement for all involved. It will allow us to examine intervention strategies that will combat the growing number of reported cases of campylobacteriosis in New Zealand.”

The disease accounts for about 60% of New Zealand’s reported notifiable diseases. NZFSA’s Science Manager, Andrew Pavitt, says: “Campylobacteriosis is a very complex disease and uncertainty about the relative contribution of the various transmission pathways has prevented a comprehensive risk-management programme from being developed. This project provides an excellent opportunity to take a holistic approach to the issue.”

May 2007

A review of trans fatty acids (TFAs) in the New Zealand food supply, published by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) finds that New Zealanders get just 0.7% of their daily kilojoules (energy ) from TFAs, just ahead of Australians at 0.6%. Both are well within the 1% limit recommended by the World Health Organization.

However, despite growing consumer and media interest in the link between consumption of TFAs and adverse health outcomes, NZFSA notes that Kiwis’ consumption of saturated fat is a far bigger concern than TFAs. (See page 11 for more on trans fats.)

Agriculture Minister Jim Anderton and the Minister of State Services, Annette King, announced the separation of the New Zealand Food Safety Authority from the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF), thereby creating a new Public Service department administering Food Safety. The new department will be established on 1 July 2007.

“The new department, which retains the name NZFSA, will continue to protect and promote public health and safety in relation to food and food-related products, and to develop economic opportunities by facilitating access to international markets for these products,” Jim Anderton said.

Annette King said that at the time NZFSA was established in 2002, “it was accepted that MAF was New Zealand’s only credible brand in international trade. Now, however, NZFSA is operating as a highly reputable agency and no longer needs to be attached to MAF to ensure its credibility in international trade.”

June 2007

NZFSA’s Māori strategy is launched. A Shared Vision helps provide a broad perspective on the relationship between Māori and NZFSA and identifies where both would benefit from a closer relationship.

Raniera Bassett, NZFSA’s Community Extension programme manager explains: “This strategy presents an opportunity for NZFSA in consultation with Marae rūnanga (boards or committees), kaumātua, whānau, hapū and iwi to work together strategically to promote greater awareness of food safety and suitability issues.” The strategy’s main aims are to:

• raise levels of food safety awareness and foodborne illness risks

• highlight the need to focus on consumer and food education/training policies for Māori

• maintain the sanctity of kai from a tikanga Māori perspective.

July 2007

NZFSA moves to address media reports that raise unnecessary concerns for consumers about the safety of aspartame. The story gained traction after newspaper reports of one user who blamed the low-calorie sweetener for a host of medical conditions. Activists use the story in an attempt to have aspartame banned from the New Zealand food supply.

Sandra Daly, NZFSA’s Communications Director tells the media: “We are continually assessing the weight of sound, scientific evidence that surrounds the use of all products, including aspartame. We can find no scientific basis for claims that the product is not safe to consume in sensible quantities.“

August 2007

Comprehensive results from NZFSA’s monitoring and surveillance programmes continue to show that New Zealanders can have confidence in the safety of the food they are eating.

Despite targeting areas where it was thought NZFSA would be most likely to find residues higher than the regulatory limit, just one breach in imported food was found, and a small number in a wide range of tests of New Zealand foods. None of these are found to represent any risks to health.

Glen Neal, NZFSA’s New Zealand Standards Assistant Director announces: “We’re very pleased that the importance of safe food is clearly recognised by those producing and selling food in New Zealand.”

September 2007

NZFSA moves to allay public concerns after claims in a newly published book that some milk proteins might cause or protect against type 1 diabetes, heart disease, schizophrenia and autism.

“NZFSA’s expert opinion that milk, whether A1 or A2, remains safe to drink has not changed after careful consideration of Keith Woodford’s book”, says Dr Donald Campbell, NZFSA Principal Adviser Public Health.

The book also claims NZFSA did not publish a lay summary of a 2004 literature review written by Professor Boyd Swinburn on possible benefits of A2 milk over A1. The summary and Professor Swinburn’s full report have been available on NZFSA’s website for several years.

NZFSA, along with the rest of the world’s food safety agencies and the World Health Organization, believes milk is a safe and nutritious product. (See page 24 for more about A1 and A2 milk.)

October 2007

NZFSA announced it will test more imported foods. This is part of its monitoring that ensures New Zealand’s food safety systems are working properly and that those selling food meet their legal responsibilities to ensure it is safe, says Glen Neal, NZFSA Assistant Director (New Zealand Standards).

“Included in the latest surveillance is continuing testing at the border of vegetable proteins, sampling of land-based farmed seafoods from many countries, and testing Roquefort raw milk cheese.”

NZFSA has been testing all shipments of vegetable proteins such as wheat gluten and soy and corn meal since May in response to problems with pet food in the United States. Although no contamination has been found, the testing will continue.

State Services Commissioner, Mark Prebble, announced the appointment of Andrew McKenzie (currently Acting Chief Executive) as Chief Executive of NZFSA effective immediately. “Andrew has led NZFSA to its current position as an internationally credible organisation”, said Mark Prebble.