A bulletin for the Australian Food Industry May 1998
Contents: Food hygiene standards | Hand drying and hygiene | Date marking of packed foods | Survival of salmonellae in orange juice | Irradiation of meat | Aflatoxin in peanuts | Food Regulation Review
Date marking of packed food
Another significant change in food legislation under consideration at the present time is the proposal by ANZFA to change the regulations which govern date marking of packed food (Proposal P139).
Date marking terms
ANZFA proposes the following in relation to date marking terms:
- two forms of date marks be permitted, 'use by' and 'best before' and that they be defined similarly to Codex as follows:
'best before date', in relation to a package of food, means the date which signifies the end of the period under any stated storage conditions during which the intact package of food will remain fully marketable and will retain any specific qualities for which tacit or express claims have been made. However, beyond the date the food may still be perfectly satisfactory.
'use-by date', in relation to a package of food, means the date which signifies the end of the estimated period under any stated storage conditions after which the intact package of food probably will not have the quality attributes normally expected by the consumers.
- a 'date of packing' be permitted to be included on all packaged foods in addition to a 'best before' or 'use by' date but not instead of;
- foods that should be consumed before a certain date because of health or safety reasons be date marked with a 'use by' date; and
- foods date marked with a 'use by' date should be prohibited from being sold after this date.
The present definitions in the Australian Food Standards Code Code are:
- use-by date in relation to a package of food means the date signifying the end of the minimum durable life of the food contained in that package;
- best-before date in relation to a package of food has the same meaning as that assigned by this clause to the term use-by date;
- minimum durable life in relation to a package of food means the period during which the packed food that is stored in accordance with any conditions of storage set out in the label can reasonably be expected to retain, without any appreciable deterioration, its normal wholesomeness, nature, substance and quality.
Thus the new proposal differs, in some important ways, from existing definitions in the Australian Food Standards Code and in Codex Alimentarius.
The Authority proposes that foods determined by the manufacturer to require a use-by date should be prohibited from sale after this date and that the food industry and consumers could be educated to be aware that foods marked with a use-by date should not be consumed once this date is past.
As yet, the Authority has not defined the foods which may require a use-by date.
Shelf life of prepared chilled meals
One of the areas that concerns ANZFA with regard to shelf life and safety is prepared, chilled meals. These may be full meals or meal components and are seen as the vital ingredient in the home meal replacement drive of the supermarkets and convenience stores.
They may be prepared and packed in various ways and to some extent the public health risk associated with these products is dependent on the filling and packaging method chosen. Frequently they are vacuum packaged to increase their storage life.
Despite ANZFA's concerns, however, the public health risk posed by these products is more connected with the process they receive and the temperature they are stored at than other factors such as shelf life.
Despite ANZFA's concerns, however, the public health risk posed by these products is more connected with the process they receive and the temperature they are stored at than other factors such as shelf life.
It is a requirement in the proposed food hygiene standard 4.2 that where a process step is needed to reduce to safe levels any pathogens that may be present in the food, the food business should be required to use a process step reasonably known to achieve the microbiological safety of the food.
In this regard these pre-cooked meals will be no different from a range of other cooked foods which require refrigerated storage, e.g. cooked, manufactured meats.
The concern, quite correctly, is that vacuum packing will favour the growth of anaerobic pathogens, e.g. C. botulinum, if these organisms survive the cooking process. Both the Australian Quarantine and Inspection Service's Code of Hygiene Practice for Heat-treated Refrigerated Foods Packaged for Extended Shelf Life (1992) and the Code of Practice for the Manufacture of Vacuum and Modified Atmosphere Packaged Chilled Foods (1996) produced by the Campden & Chorleywood Food Research Association recommend a minimum process of 90°C for 10 minutes or its equivalent for these products. This recommendation stems from a 1992 report by the UK Advisory Committee on the Microbiological Safety of Foods.
If this process is received by products in this category, and they are subsequently stored below 5°C, there is no compelling reason why their safety should be determined by their shelf life. It is true that the AQIS Code recommends a maximum life of 10 days before purchase unless the product is stored in the frozen state. However this recommendation will not stand close examination and should be reviewed if the Code is to prove useful to local manufacturers of pre-cooked chilled meals.
Food Science Australia
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