ACTION NEEDED: FSANZ says yes to Glutaminase as a Processing Aid
UPDATE 2 March: please read the latest blog on this issue as action is no longer required.
Yesterday FSANZ said that their Board had just approved A1136 Protein Glutaminase as a Processing Aid, which 11,665 people have asked them to reject in our Network petition http://bit.ly/2kkSth0
Now Ministers have 60 days to agree or refer back to the food regulator FSANZ.
The Network has sent the letter below to all Ministers asking them to refer back to FSANZ with the solution of approving this enzyme as an additive on the Food Ingredients label, rather than allowing it to be hidden from consumers as a Processing Aid.
Please mail or email your State Minister using this letter and the State Ministers' mail and email addresses
Here is the letter sent on your behalf:
23 February 2018
Dear Minister
Within the next 60 days you will be asked to approve Application A1136 Protein Glutaminase as a Processing Aid (Enzyme) as member of the Australia and New Zealand Ministerial Forum on Food Regulation.
This application has caused considerable concern to the 14,000 member Food intolerance Network, who launched a petition which has gained 11,600 signatures to date without any attempt to gain media attention. The petition is available here http://bit.ly/2kkSth0
We ask that you do NOT approve this Application but refer it back to FSANZ to review its decision on the following grounds
· it is not consistent with the objectives of the legislation which establishes FSANZ
· it does not provide adequate information to enable informed choice
In our view, this enzyme cannot legally be classified as a Processing Aid and hence hidden from the view of consumers for several reasons, the most prominent being that declaring Protein Glutaminase as a Processing Aid is in breach of Object (c) of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991: the provision of adequate information relating to food to enable consumers to make informed choices.
A simple alternative exists which FSANZ has not adequately considered and which addresses these grounds for review, which is to approve Protein Glutaminase as an Additive under 1101 Proteases in the existing Food Standards Code. In this way it appears on the Food Ingredients label and consumers can make an informed choice, rather than having it disappear from the label as a Processing Aid.
Protein Glutaminase is clearly a Food as defined by the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991, where Food includes (a) any substance or thing of a kind used, capable of being used, or represented as being for use, for human consumption (whether it is live, raw, prepared or partly prepared); and (c) any substance used in preparing a substance or thing referred to in paragraph (a). Therefore Protein Glutaminase should be treated as a food subject to full disclosure rather than hidden as a Processing Aid.
Our members look forward to your support of this simple solution for the benefit of consumers.
Dr Howard Dengate
for the Food Intolerance Network
PO Box 718, Woolgoolga NSW 2456 AUSTRALIA +61 2 6654 7500 This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. www.fedup.com.au The Food Intolerance Network provides independent information about the effects of food on behaviour, health and learning in both children and adults, and support for families using a low-chemical elimination diet free of additives, low in salicylates, amines and flavour enhancers (FAILSAFE) for health, behaviour and learning problems. ABN 72 705 112 854
