Health claims on foods must fulfil minimum standards

Consumers Health Forum: New regulations enable consumers to make healthier choices

New food labelling regulations announced by Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing the Hon Catherine King MP will mean claims on food labels about nutritional benefit will need to be matched by minimum food content standards.

The regulations were agreed to under Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) provisions and will mean consumers across in countries will be protected by the same standards.

Consumers Health Forum (CHF) provided input on the draft regulations, arguing that marketing claims such as ‘helps with strong bones’ should not be allowed unless there are minimum nutritional standards ensuring claims made are backed up by evidence.

CEO Carol Bennett applauded the move, saying consumers needed to be sure that claims on packaging were accurate and could be trusted.

“We see so many claims these days on food wrappers and boxes, but very rarely is there enough information to allow consumers to make an informed choice about the nutritional value of the foods they are buying,” Ms Bennett said.

“It has reached the point where conflicting claims and the proliferation of statements about fat content, added nutrients and minerals mean it is very challenging for consumers to decipher whether their food choices are actually delivering a health benefit.

“Through our work on medicine packaging and labelling, CHF recognises how important it is that consumers are presented with clear and credible information on product labels.”

Limiting health claims to foods which meet minimum requirements has also been welcomed by CHOICE, however CHOICE was strongly critical of the ministers’ decision to allow food companies evaluate the evidence behind these health claims, as opposed to an independent regulator. CHOICE argues consumers will have limited confidence that the claims appearing on supermarket shelves are legitimate.