The Australia New Zealand Food Authority (ANZFA) today released its recommendation to Food Standards Ministers of the finalisation of its review of infant formula products.
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This review of the regulation of infant formula products has updated requirements, taking account of advances in scientific and technological knowledge, and has developed a harmonised standard to apply in both Australia and New Zealand.
ANZFA’s Chief Scientist, Dr Marion Healy, said today, “While clearly breast milk provides the greatest health benefits to infants, it is also recognised that there are circumstances in which an infant is unable to be breast-fed. In those cases, infant formula is the next best feeding choice, and as such must be safe and nutritionally adequate.
“A very cautious approach has been adopted in developing the requirements for infant formula products. This recognises that infants are among the most vulnerable groups in our community and that formula products are likely to be the sole source of nutrition in the first few months of life for some infants.
“The proposed new standard for infant formula products is designed to regulate products that meet the nutritional requirements of infants up to the age of 12 months. The standard covers formula for healthy babies for example infant formula and follow-on formula (for babies over 6 months), as well as formulas for infants with special nutritional requirements.
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By GlobalData“It will also provide carers with additional information about infant formula products to enable them to make appropriate choices about the correct formula for feeding their infants and in the safe use of products. The proposed standard offers an improvement in the composition of infant formula over the existing infant formula standards in Australia and New Zealand,” Dr Healy said.
Some specific improvements are:
*explicit recognition of a wider range of infant formula products available on the market, including formulas for special dietary purposes (the old standards did not specify requirements for many of these);
*greater compositional control of nutrients including protein, fatty acids and vitamins and minerals to make infant formulas safer and healthier;
*the requirement for novel foods and ingredients (that is foods with no history of safe use) to be assessed for safety before being permitted in infant formula;
*provision for the voluntary addition, including prescribed maximum and minimum levels, of nutritive substances that may be of benefit to infant health;
*a limit on the aluminium content of infant formula and new extra labelling for formulas with high fluoride levels; and
*greater clarity of labelling whilst maintaining adherence to the requirements of the WHO International Code of Marketing Breast-milk Substitutes.
“We recognise, however, that there are limitations on how closely infant formula can replicate the unique properties of breast-milk. It is simply not possible, for example, to manufacture all of the complex bio-active elements which naturally occur in breast milk.
“Nevertheless, the standard has been developed to maximise the nutritional value and safety of infant formulas. We will continue to monitor future international and scientific developments and make further recommendations to Ministers in the future, if necessary,” Dr Healy concluded.
Should Food Standards Ministers agree to the proposed standard, a two-year phase-in period is proposed which will allow manufacturers time to meet the requirements of the new standard. Manufacturers of special formulas will have five years to adjust to the specific regulatory requirements for these, pending further review.
ANZFA will be briefing public health and consumers groups and industry on the proposed standard over the next few weeks.
