FSANZ Coordinates 83 Food Recalls, Progresses Food Standards Development in 2023–2024
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The recently published Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Annual Report 2023–2024 outlines the agency’s food safety regulatory work throughout the past year, covering the management of food safety incidents, the development of standards, the approval of novel foods, and other efforts.
Food Recalls and Food Safety Incidents
In 2023–2024, FSANZ coordinated 83 food recalls, consistent with the decade-long average of 84 recalls annually.
The agency also worked with the Binational Food Safety Network—a mechanism for national coordination, communication, and early information-sharing about food incidents between government agencies—to manage ten significant food safety issues. Incidents included issues with non-compliant energy drinks, frozen food products, and listeriosis outbreaks.
Additionally, FSANZ worked with national, state, and territorial food and public health authorities to respond to the highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) outbreak in Southeastern Australia, including media engagement to assure consumers about the safety of the food supply.
Standards Development
Importantly, in the last year, FSANZ completed a review of its infant formula regulation for the first time in 20 years, which included seven rounds of public consultation, 36 public reports, eight independent risk assessments, five commissioned consumer research studies, four consumer literature reviews, and two label surveys. Improving the ability to make informed choices, the revised standards consolidate nutrition information to enable better comparison across products.
FSANZ also progressed work to prepare final assessment reports for a public consultation on a proposal on definitions for gene technology and new breeding techniques (Proposal P1055). The proposal aims to address new technology developments in genetic modification by clarifying what foods should be regulated as genetically modified (GM) foods under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code.
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Additionally, the agency collaborated with state and territorial regulatory counterparts to develop guidance materials to help businesses implement new standards that go into effect in February 2025. Materials cover primary production and processing standards for different produce (berries, leafy vegetables, and melons).
The FSANZ Board also approved 25 applications within statutory timeframes, including changes to irradiation levels and a new standard for Australian native bee honey.
Novel Foods
Marking a global first, FSANZ approved a GM banana line QCAV-4, which is modified to provide resistance to Panama disease TR4. The application was submitted by Queensland University of Technology (QUT). This was also the first whole GM fruit submitted to FSANZ for assessment and approval. A license for the commercial cultivation of the GM banana plant was granted by the Gene Technology Regulator, although QUT has no plans to commercialize the cultivar.
An assessment of cell-cultured quail was also progressed in 2023–2024, the first application for cell-cultured meat to be assessed in Australia.
Food Safety Surveillance
In 2023–2024, FSANZ began work on the 28th Australian Total Diet Study, collecting approximately 2,000 food samples nationwide and analyzing them for more than 500 chemicals, including pesticides, antimicrobials, metals, and mycotoxins. The results of the study will be published in late 2025.
Other surveys evaluated the presence Listeria monocytogenes in enoki mushrooms, patulin and toxic metals in apple juice and apple products, and pyrrolizidine alkaloids in Australian foods. FSANZ also completed sampling for a national survey of antimicrobial-resistant (AMR) bacteria in food, an analysis of the results of which is ongoing.
Looking Ahead to 2024–2025
In the coming year, FSANZ will continue its ongoing review of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 to inform changes to the binational food regulation system and drive systems modernization, ensuring legislation is fit-for-purpose and that operations are appropriately resourced.
FSANZ also intends to progress a number of proposals in 2024–2025, such as the reviews of caffeine permissions and standards for formulated supplementary sports foods, food safety and primary production requirements for eggs and egg products, and proposals regarding energy labeling and nutrition content claims about carbohydrates and sugars in alcohol.
