Food code fails to protect consumers from ancient canned foods

Commenting on a story in today's Sydney Morning Herald ('Bad peaches were nothing compared to the buck-passing', 20 June 2009), Dr Kaye said: "The nation's food code fails to protect the health of consumers of canned goods with a shelf life of more than two years.

"The tinned peaches case is the tip of the iceberg.

"Any canned foods with a shelf life of more than two years does not require date labelling even though CSIRO warns that they become dangerous after four years.

"Consumers are forced to play Russian roulette with outdated or dangerous products.

"Every time a consumer purchases a can without a 'best by' mark, they are at risk of contents that are tainted, unsuitable or dangerous.

"Supermarkets and retailers have no way to tell how old these cans are unless they contact the manufacturer.

"NSW Food Minister Ian Macdonald and his colleagues have left consumers exposed to ancient cans.

"The least they could do is amend the code so that all canned food is clearly labelled with processing date and some estimate of its use-by date.

"The Greens will be calling on Minister Macdonald to take responsibility for food products sold in NSW and to end the buck passing.

"We will also be moving to demand that he fix the problem of date stamps on canned goods at the ministerial council meeting in October," Dr Kaye said.

Note: CSIRO's Food Sciences Australia advises consumers that canned foods have a storage life of up to four years. The Food Standards Code does not require a 'best-before', 'use-by' date stamp or any indication of the date of manufacture for canned goods with a shelf life of more than two years.

SMH story is at
http://www.smh.com.au/national/bad-peaches-were-nothing-compared-to-the-buckpassing-20090619-cr80.html

For more information:    John Kaye 0407 195 455