Nutrition considerations in the development and review of food standards, with particular emphasis on food composition

Although Australia and New Zealand have nutritious and abundant food supplies, nutrition policies continue to be important in guiding food regulation in these countries. This paper documents the regulatory nutritional principles that serve to meet the Australia New Zealand Food Authority’s key objectives, in particular the protection of public health and safety, and their implementation in the development and recent review of food regulation in Australia and New Zealand. These principles, based on a cautionary approach to risk, have been applied particularly to the compositional aspects of the food regulation. These aspects include the regulatory control of voluntary and mandatory addition of nutritive substances such as vitamins and minerals to foods; particular standards that regulate foods for general consumption; and standards for special purpose foods. Labelling controls on nutrient information are also discussed.