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.
The Authority accepted application A1212 which seeks to permit Aspergillus fijiensis as a microbial source for the production of the enzyme beta-fructofuranosidase as a processing aid in any food. The Authority considered the application in accordance with Division 1 of Part 3 and has approved a draft variation.
Following consideration by the Food Ministers’ Meeting[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 Legislation Act 2003.
2. Purpose
The Authority has approved a draft variation amending the table to subsection S18––4(5) of the Code to permit the use of the enzyme beta-fructofuranosidase derived from the source microorganism A. fijiensis ATCC 26011 as a processing aid for any technological purpose in any food. The reference to ‘A. fijiensis ATCC 26011’ is a reference to the microorganism at the strain level.
The enzyme beta-fructofuranosidase derived from the microbial source Aspergillus niger (A. niger) is already permitted in the Code to be used as a processing aid in the manufacture of all food. Methods for identifying microorganisms are constantly evolving and in some cases microorganisms will be re-identified as different species. In this application, an organism previously approved in the Code was originally identified as the species A. niger, but more advanced methods have now identified it as the species Aspergillus fijiensis (A. fijiensis). Listing both names in the Code would clarify that beta-fructofuranosidase derived from ‘A. niger’ or ‘A. fijiensis’, is permitted to be used as a processing aid in food in accordance with the Code.
3. Documents incorporated by reference
The approved draft variation does not incorporate any documents by reference.
However, existing provisions of the Code incorporate a document by reference that will prescribe identity and purity specifications for the processing aid to be permitted by the approved draft variation. Section 1.1.1—15 of the Code requires substances used as processing aids to comply with any relevant identity and purity specifications listed in Schedule 3 of the Code. Section S3—2 of Schedule 3 incorporates by reference the specifications listed in the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Committee on Food Additives (JECFA) Compendium of Food Additive Specifications (FAO/WHO 2019) and the United States Pharmacopeial Convention (2020) Food Chemicals Codex (12th edition). These include specifications for enzyme preparations used in food processing.
4. Consultation
In accordance with the procedure in Division 1 of Part 3 of the FSANZ Act, the Authority’s consideration of application A1212 included one round of public consultation following an assessment and the preparation of a draft variation and associated assessment summary. Submissions were called for on 4 November 2021 for a six-week consultation period.
The Office of Best Practice Regulation (OBPR) granted the Authority a standing exemption from needing to develop a Regulatory Impact Statement for proposed variations of the Code to permit additional processing aids (OBPR correspondence dated 24 November 2010 - reference 12065). This standing exemption was provided as permitting additional processing aids is likely to have only a minor impact on business and individuals. It is a minor, deregulatory change that allows for the introduction of a food product to the food supply that has been determined to be safe. The use of the approved processing aid is also voluntary.
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. Variation
Item [1] of the Schedule to the approved draft variation repeals the existing entry for the enzyme ‘β-Fructofuranosidase (EC 3.2.1.26)’ in the table to subsection S18—4(5) in Schedule 18 of the Code; and replaces it with a new entry for that enzyme.
The new entry includes a reference to ‘Aspergillus fijiensis ATCC 20611’ as a source for ‘β-Fructofuranosidase (EC 3.2.1.26)’.
The effect of the amendment will be to permit the use of the enzyme, beta-fructofuranosidase (EC 3.2.1.26), derived from A. fijiensis ATCC 20611 as a processing aid to perform any technological purpose in the manufacture of any food – in accordance with the Code.
[1] Formerly the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation.