19 DECEMBER

NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE

4225

3. Amendment

The New Zealand Food Standard 2001 is amended by omitting clause 7 and substituting the following clause:

“7. (1) Mandatory Food Standard

It is declared that compliance with the following standards is mandatory under section 11Z of the Food Act 1981:

(a) Standard A18 of volume 1 of the Food Standards Code and standard 1.5.2 of volume 2 of the Food Standards Code, concerning food produced using gene technology, and as incorporated into this standard by clause 5;

(b) Standard A1 clauses 19 (e)-(i) and clause 1 (5) to (9) of Standard 1.1.3 of the Food Standards Code concerning the folate health claims pilot project, and as incorporated into this standard by clause 5;

(c) Standard A12 clauses 6A and 6 B of volume 1 of the Food Standards Code and so much of the table to clause 3 of standard 1.4.1 as relates to 3-chloro-1,2-propanediol for soy and oyster sauce and 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol for soy and oyster sauce;

(d) In relation to royal jelly, the label on or attached to a package of a food, including a dietary supplement, containing royal jelly, must include, in a prominent position so that it can be easily seen by the consumer when purchasing the product, in a standard type of not less than 3 mm, the statement:

(i) in the case of a product that is comprised solely of royal jelly – “WARNING – THIS PRODUCT IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR ASTHMA AND ALLERGY SUFFERERS AS IT CAN CAUSE SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTIONS”, or

(ii) in the case of a product that contains royal jelly (but is not solely comprised of royal jelly) – “WARNING – THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS ROYAL JELLY AND IS NOT RECOMMENDED FOR ASTHMA AND ALLERGY SUFFERERS AS IT CAN CAUSE SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTIONS”;

(iii) instead of the statements in 7 (d) (i) and 7 (d) (ii), in the case of a product that is comprised solely of royal jelly, or a product that contains royal jelly (but is not solely comprised of royal jelly) – “WARNING – THIS PRODUCT CONTAINS ROYAL JELLY WHICH HAS BEEN REPORTED TO CAUSE ALLERGIC REACTIONS AND IN RARE CASES, FATALITIES, ESPECIALLY IN ASTHMA AND ALLERGY SUFFERERS”;

(e) In relation to bee Pollen, the label on or attached to a package of a food, including a dietary supplement, containing bee pollen, must include, in a prominent position so that it can be easily seen by the consumer when purchasing the product, in a standard type of 3mm, the statement – “THIS PRODUCT MAY CAUSE SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTIONS”;

(f) In relation to propolis, the label on or attached to a package of a food, including a dietary supplement, containing propolis, must include, in a prominent position so that it can be easily seen by the consumer when purchasing the product, in a standard type of 3mm, the statement – “PROPOLIS MAY CAUSE SEVERE ALLERGIC REACTIONS”;

(g) If the size of package of any product referred to in clause 7 (d), 7 (e) or 7 (f) is so small as to prevent the use of letters in 3mm type, a reduced type height may be used, but no letter may have a letter height of less than 1.5mm.

(2) Nothing in clauses 7 (d), 7 (e), 7 (f) or 7 (g) shall apply to any product comprised of or containing royal jelly or bee pollen, to which section 10 of the Trans-Tasman Mutual Recognition Act 1997 applies.”

Issued at Wellington this 14th day of December 2001.

RUTH DYSON, Acting Minister of Health.

Explanatory Note

This note is not part of the standard and has been included to explain its general effect.

The New Zealand Food Standard 2001 recognises the Food Standards Code (comprising “Volume 2” (or the “Joint Australia New Zealand Code”) and “Volume 1” (or the “Australian Food Standards Code”)) as an alternative to most of the food standards contained in the New Zealand Food Regulations 1984.

As a result, manufacturers, retailers, suppliers and importers in New Zealand may currently comply with the Food Regulations 1984, or the Food Standards Code Volume 1, or the Food Standards Code Volume 2. However, in New Zealand, some exemptions to the Joint Food Code exist (refer to clause 5 (2) of The New Zealand Food Standard 2001 as amended by Amendment No. 1), some standards in the New Zealand Food Regulations 1984 remain compulsory (refer to clause 6 of the New Zealand Food Standard 2001) and some standards are mandatory (refer to clause 7 of the New Zealand Food Standard 2001).

The New Zealand Food Standard 2001, Amendment No. 3 comes into force 28 days after it is Gazetted. This declares that the maximum levels of 3-chloro-1,2-propanediol for soy and oyster sauce and 1,3-dichloro-2-propanol for soy and oyster sauce specified in the Food Standards Code are mandatory in New Zealand. A mandatory standard prevails over the Food Regulations 1984 where a difference exists.

Food standards subject to Regulations (Disallowance) Act 1989

Food standards, including this amendment, are subject to the Regulations (Disallowance) Act 1989. Any person has the right to make a complaint about a food standard to the Regulations Review Committee.

Availability of food law

An outline of New Zealand food law can be viewed on the Ministry of Health web site:

www.moh.govt.nz