Why reform the Food Act?

Page contents: Simplifying the menu | Focus on good outcomes

Simplifying the menu

Food safety is never far out of the spotlight. Over recent years in Australia and elsewhere, there have been mounting business concerns at the growth of regulation and its cumulative burdens.

The Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission (VCEC) has inquired into the regulation of food businesses. VCEC released its final report, Simplifying the Menu: Food Regulation in Victoria, in September 2007. The final report is available on the Victorian Competition and Efficiency Commission website.

In 2008, the Government announced that it would implement the overwhelming majority of VCEC’s wide-ranging recommendations.

A consultation paper was released in 2008 seeking feedback on possible changes to the Act. For more information, read the Consultation Paper: Proposed changes to the Food Act - July 2008.

Local government, food businesses, and the community participated actively in the VCEC inquiry and in subsequent Department of Health consultations.

These views were taken into account in the changes that are to be made to the Act.

The Food Act’s primary objective is to protect public health by ensuring that food for sale is both safe and suitable for human consumption. It does this by ensuring that core systems are in place to prevent or minimise the risks of illness resulting from the sale of food.

The amendments to the Act will strengthen these systems and better target regulation to risk.

Poor diets are a significant contributing factor to the growing burden of chronic disease within the community. This is a major public health issue. There is debate about the role for regulation in tackling this problem. However, this debate is primarily relevant to the development of Australia and New Zealand-wide food standards governing matters such as food composition, labelling and claims. These matters, as well as some food safety issues, are regulated under the Australia and New Zealand Food Standards Code.

Focus on good outcomes

The obligation on all to provide safe food enshrined in the current Act will continue to apply. The amendments to the Act will strengthen Victoria’s food regulatory system to focus more on outcomes than processes and to make sure:

• Food regulation continues to protect public health, but is better targeted to the risks of food-related illness and imposes only reasonable burdens on food businesses
• Regulators, food businesses and community groups have access to better information, advice and education to understand and comply with their obligations under the food laws, to manage food safety risks, and to be accountable for their practices
• Consumers, and particularly vulnerable groups most affected by food poisoning, have confidence in Victoria’s food businesses and can get the information they need to protect their health; and
• The food safety system and program improvements are based on good evidence.