Explanatory Statement
1. Authority
Section 13 of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 (the FSANZ Act) provides that the functions of Food Standards Australia New Zealand (the Authority) include the development of standards and variations of standards for inclusion in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Code).
Division 1 of Part 3 of the FSANZ Act specifies that the Authority may accept applications for the development or variation of food regulatory measures, including standards. This Division also stipulates the procedure for considering an application for the development or variation of food regulatory measures.
FSANZ accepted Application A1045 which seeks to approve the use of the bacteriophage preparation P100 (referred to as Listeria phage P100) as a processing aid to reduce the concentration of L. monocytogenes on solid ready-to-eat (RTE) foods. The Authority considered the Application in accordance with Division 1 of Part 3 and has approved draft variations to Standards 1.3.3 and 1.3.4.
Following consideration by COAG Legislative and Governance Forum on Food Regulation[1], section 92 of the FSANZ Act stipulates that the Authority must publish a notice about the standard or draft variation of a standard.
Section 94 of the FSANZ Act specifies that a standard, or a variation of a standard, in relation to which a notice is published under section 92 is a legislative instrument, but is not subject to parliamentary disallowance or sunsetting under the Legislative Instruments Act 2003.
2. Purpose and operation
The Authority has approved permission for the use of P100 as a processing aid to treat the surface of specific solid RTE foods to reduce the concentration of the food pathogen
L. monocytogenes under the conditions of GMP. The specific RTE foods types that P100 may treat are meat and meat products, fish and fish products, fruit and fruit products, vegetable and vegetable products and cheese.
There are no specifications for P100 in the primary or secondary references in Standard 1.3.4 so a specification for P100 has been inserted into this Standard. Permissions for new processing aids need to be linked to appropriate specifications for the product to ensure only appropriate material is used to treat food.
3. Documents incorporated by reference
The variations to food regulatory measures do not incorporate any documents by reference.
4. Consultation
In accordance with the procedure in Division 1 of Part 3 of the FSANZ Act, the Authority’s consideration of A1045 included two rounds of public comment following an assessment and the preparation of draft variations and associated reports.
A summary of the assessment was released in September 2011 for public comment.
The draft variations were subsequently released for consultation on 16 March 2012 for a six-week consultation period.
A Regulation Impact Statement was not required because the proposed variations to Standards 1.3.3 and 1.3.4 are likely to have a minor impact on business and individuals.
5. Statement of compatibility with human rights
This instrument is exempt from the requirements for a statement of compatibility with human rights as it is a non-disallowable instrument under section 94 of the FSANZ Act.
6. Variations
Item [1] inserts an entry for Listeria phage P100 into the Table to clause 14 of Standard 1.3.3 to permit the use of P100 as a processing aid to surface treat specified solid ready-to-eat foods (meat and meat products, fish and fish products, fruit and fruit products, vegetables and vegetable products and cheese). P100 can be used at Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) as there is no maximum usage level proposed, and the level of use is as appropriate following GMP.
The permission does not apply to whole nuts in the shell and raw fruits and vegetables that are intended for hulling, peeling or washing by the consumer, which is part of the existing definition of ready-to-eat foods in Standard 3.2.2.
As Listeria phage P100 may have an ongoing technological function when introduced to liquids, an editorial note has been added after the Table to clause 14 to highlight this property. An ongoing technological function is a characteristic of food additives and not processing aids. Listeria phage P100 is not permitted for use as a food additive under Standard 1.3.1.
Item [2] inserts a specification for Listeria phage P100 into the Schedule to Standard 1.3.4.
[1] Previously known as the Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council