A bulletin for the Australian Food Industry September 1997
Contents: Training and national food hygiene legislation | ANZFA draft standard on food additives | Unusual chemical poisoning incident | Chlorfluazuron (CFZ) residues in meat | Hepatitis A transmission by foods | Garibaldi charges dropped | Cheese from unpasteurised milk | Date marking of processed foods for export | Fungi and food spoilage
Date marking of processed foods for export
Australian food law and that of other Western countries permits food manufacturers to nominate the shelf life of their products. Many countries to which Australia exports, however, take a quite different approach to open date marking (Food Safety & Hygiene October 1995). In these countries the food regulatory agency nominates the shelf life of specified packaged foods and the manufacturer must label his products accordingly. The appropriate shelf life is often a matter of dispute.
The China National Council of Light Industry has recently published new regulations setting out its nominated shelf life for a variety of foods. The products listed include milk powder in tinplate cans, glass containers and plastic. The corresponding shelf life listed is 12 months, nine months and four months respectively. Canned fish and poultry are assigned a shelf life of two years and canned fruits and vegetables 15 months. Tomato sauce in either tinplate cans or glass is limited to a shelf life of 12 months while soy sauce and vinegar are given six months only.
The United Arab Emirates (UAE) also prescribe the shelf life of selected, processed foods. Imported foods must comply with UAE shelf life standards. While many of these standards may seem conservative to food manufacturers they are obliged to use them. In most cases, a product must have at least one half of its shelf life remaining at the time of import. The manufacturer must have the shelf life of a product permanently marked on the original label or primary packaging. The dates may not be printed on stickers.
In the absence of a UAE standard for a food, a reasonable estimate of shelf life by the manufacturer may be accepted.
Food Science Australia
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