Australia has promised to ban foodstuff adulterations that can cause illness and death in the nation’s food supply, including dairy products and beef.
Key points:The Food Standards Agency will review the guidelines that will come into force from 1 JanuaryFood will be restricted to products that are labelled “food” and that contain no additives, pesticides or artificial colouringFood and drinks will be limited to those that meet the following criteria:It will also impose a ban on products that contain:In a statement, the Australian Food and Drugs Agency said:The new guidelines will be introduced into the Australian Consumer Law (ACL) by 1 January, with the government to publish the full text in the next two weeks.
Under the ACL, foodstamp recipients will be required to prove that their purchases contain food that was properly labelled and that they are not over the prescribed limit.
The ACL is the country’s biggest food law and regulation body, and is used to enforce the countrys own regulations.
A number of other states and territories are also considering similar measures.
The ABC understands the new guidelines have been in the works for some time.
While many states are looking at new measures, some of them are more limited than others.
A NSW government report published last month said that a total of 2.1 million people in the state would be affected by the changes, including about 200,000 in NSW alone.
The new restrictions come as the NSW government grapples with a shortage of supply of dairy milk.
The milk industry has warned of a shortage in dairy milk supplies as demand for it continues to decline.
The government announced last week that it would stop selling products containing milk in December.
It will instead only sell products that have been certified to meet the new Australian Food Standards (AFS) standards.
The Abbott government is also expected to make a further reduction in the number of dairy products it sells to supermarkets and restaurants in December, although this will be more modest than last year’s reductions.
The NSW Government has also said it will not sell foodstamps to children under the age of 18.
The federal government is expected to roll out a range of new regulations over the coming months, including tighter restrictions on the sale of dairy-based foodstudded drinks, as well as restrictions on food that has been “manufactured” from meat.
The Federal Government has committed to making changes to foodstamping to protect consumers and to help farmers.
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