The changes under consideration concern Australian food safety standards for for meat and meat products and eggs and egg products.

Primary production and processing standard for meat and meat products – Proposal P1005 – 1st Assessment

FSANZ has evaluated the hazards, current management practices and existing regulatory requirements for the meat industry in Australia and concluded that there are no unmanaged food safety risks for the major meat sectors.

It is considering whether to incorporate the existing on-farm practices into regulatory requirements in the Food Standards Code or retain the current industry self-regulatory approach. In regard to meat processing, there is currently regulation in all states and territories but there is no mechanism to review, update or change these regulatory requirements.

FSANZ has presented three management options to address these issues for scrutiny during the first of two rounds of public comment. For more information, click here.

Primary production and processing standard for eggs and egg products – Proposal P301 – Draft Assessment

There is currently no national through-chain regulatory framework for food safety in the production of eggs. The purpose of this project is to develop a primary production and processing standard that will reduce the incidence of food-borne illness from Salmonella in the egg supply chain.

As there is an increased likelihood of cracked and dirty eggs containing Salmonella, FSANZ is proposing measures that include ensuring that cracked and dirty eggs are not sold as shell eggs and that all liquid egg (egg pulp) is treated to control Salmonella.

FSANZ invites comment from interested parties on the above issues and also on a compliance plan developed by a group established by the Implementation Sub Committee. For more information, click here.

FSANZ welcomes public comment from industry, public health professionals, government agencies and consumers. Details of all the assessments can be found on the FSANZ web site [click here]. Submissions should reach FSANZ by 4 November 2009.