Lecture 24: Food Policy

Question 1

what does successful policy look like?

Answer 1

• development: based on an identified need, evidence based, consultation with stakeholders and community
• implementations and evaluation
• review

Question 2

what is food policy?

Answer 2

• food policy is the area of public policy concerning how food is produced, processed, distributed and purchased
• may be voluntary or mandatory
• individual/whanau through to international
• at a national government level key stakeholders: ministry of primary industries, food standards australia new zealand, ministry of health
• local government also has an important role

Question 3

what are some food and nutrition policy?

Answer 3

the right to food - 1948 universal declaration of human rights

food safety
- spoilage and contamination
- prevention of communicable disease/poisoning
- allergies

nutrition
- prevention of non-communicable disease
- under/over-nutrition
- fortification

Question 4

what are some food and nutrition policy levels?

Answer 4

• international
• national
• local
• culture/religion
• community, schools, hospitals, local communities
• family/whanau
• individual

Question 5

what are some international food policies?

Answer 5

• world health organisation and the food and agriculture organisation of the united nations formed after WW2
• the FAO emphasises nutrition in relation to production, distribution and consumption of food while WHO focuses on maintenance of health and prevention of disease related to food

Question 6

what does the food and agriculture organisation do?

Answer 6

• help eliminate hunger, food insecurity and malnutrition
• make agriculture, forestry and fisheries more production and sustainable
• reduce rural poverty
• enable inclusive and efficient agriculture and food systems
• increase the resilience of livelihoods to threats and crises

Question 7

what does WHO do?

Answer 7

• qualitative nutrition policies
• world food conference 1974
• quantitative nutrition policies

Question 8

what types of national food policies are there?

Answer 8

• food safety
• monitoring and surveillance
• labelling
• fortification
• production and distribution
• nutrition information
• eating and activity guidelines
• health and nutrition surveys
• drinking water

role of local government is important here

Question 9

what types of food labelling are there?

Answer 9

food safety
- ingredients
- allergens
- best before/use

nutrition
- nutrition information panel
- front of pack labels
- health and nutrition claims

Question 10

what are some issues that come up with qualitative food/nutrition labels?

Answer 10

different foods have different recomendations e.g. 1200mg or 500mg… but its hard to comprehend what that actually means and people can be confused

Question 11

what is codex?

Answer 11

Codex is the ‘Food Code’
- collection of standard, guidelines and codes of practice that governments may opt to use to ensure food safety, quality and fair trade
- following these standards ensures safety and quality for consumers

• codex is a food safety standard
• based on risk analysis
• and informs food labelling

Question 12

how does food labelling work in NZ?

Answer 12

FSANZ sets food labelling standard in the Food Standards Code
- enforced by the australian states and Ministry for Primary Industries in NZ

• Food Standards Code includes general labelling and information requirements that are relevant to all foods

Question 13

what does the Food Standards Code determine?

Answer 13

• what foods are required to have a label
• what information the label must include:
• name of food supplier
• statement of ingredients in order of highest to lowest proportion
• storage conditions and directions for use
• information leading to nutrition, health and related claims
• warning statements for allergens

Question 14

what are use by/best before dates?

Answer 14

Use by - don’t eat food after this date/illegal to sell food past this date

best before - might still be safe, still can be sold if it is safe

baked on/baked for - found on bread products with shelf life of less than 7 days

Question 15

what are nuitrition labelling requirements?

Answer 15

• come from Codex
  Nutrition Information Panel
• number of servings in package or by weight
• average quantity of food per serings
• quantity of energy, protein, carb, fat, sugar, sodium and other nutrients
• information relating to percentage of daily intake of nutrients

Question 16

what is the health star rating system?

Answer 16

• joint initiative between Australia and New Zealand
• developed by food industry, public health and consumer groups
• its voluntary
• Ministry of Primary Industries administers the Health Star Rating system in New Zealand

Question 17

how are health star ratings calculated?

Answer 17

• packaged foods are given a number of stars based on nutrients, ingredients, and amount of energy they provide
• manufacturers work out the rating by putting nutrition information into health star rating calculator

foods get more stars if they are lower in fat, sugar or sodium and higher in healthy nutrients and ingredients (fibre, protein, fruits, vege, nuts and legumes)

Question 18

do food labels improve nutrition?

Answer 18

• provide right to information
• can influence purchasing decisions
• reformulation
• should HSR be mandatory? YAS