This report describes potential emerging food safety risks (described as emerging issues) identified by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) in 2019 along with the ongoing food safety issues monitored during this period.
Food safety risks can emerge when new hazards are identified or if new information comes to light about an existing food safety hazard, such as increased exposure. Identifying and monitoring emerging issues enables FSANZ to better forecast and predict possible food safety risks, and develop appropriate measures to manage the identified risks if required.
FSANZ develops food standards that become part of the Australia and New Zealand Food Standards Code. FSANZ identifies emerging and ongoing food safety issues within this broader context of standards development. As a consequence, the types of issues identified in this report are likely to be ‘hazards’ that need some further investigation. These can be chemical such as glutamates, microbiological such as Hepatitis A in berries, or physical such as microplastics in foods in nature.
Additionally, the food regulatory system has well established processes for food recalls and food incidents. A food recall is action taken by a food business to remove unsafe food from distribution, sale and consumption. FSANZ coordinates and monitors food recalls in Australia, while New Zealand Food Safety coordinate recalls in New Zealand. Individual food recalls and incidents are not normally identified through the emerging issues framework, and they not included in this report.
FSANZ has begun work on longer term emerging issues and we have engaged our key stakeholder committees in horizon scanning across two, five and ten years. The outcomes from the process with the Consumer and Public Health Dialogue (CPHD) and the Retailers and Manufacturers Liaison Committee (RMLC) have been included in the report. This is an overt strategy to lift FSANZ’s emerging issues gaze from hazards to also include broader processes for example climate change and changes such as consumption habits and supply chain issues. Future annual emerging and ongoing issues reports are expected to have a greater focus on these types of processes and changes.
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