New Zealand's Minister for Food Safety doesn't approve of some proposed changes impacting the distribution of infant formula.
Food Standards Australia New Zealand has written a lengthy proposal to overhaul formula regulations, including changes to how formula can be labelled and where it can be sold.
Ministers from Australia and New Zealand will meet this week to discuss the proposal - which will come into effect unless a review is called for.
Minister Andrew Hoggard says he's not in favour of the suggested labelling requirement changes.
LISTEN ABOVE
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Together duper z L.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Back to those proposed rules around infant formula. The proposal
to the proposal is to white label the cans of
formula and then take some of the cans out of supermarkets.
And these proposals come from Food Safety of Food Standards
Australia and New Zealand. They set the rules around food
for both of the countries. But whether this actually happens
seems to lie in the hands of the food ministers
from both countries. They will meet on Thursday. Our Minister
(00:24):
for Food Safety is Andrew Hogart is with me. Now, hey, Andrew,
do you like this idea or hate it?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Not a Well, there's lots there's about six hundred of
pages to the whole standard. Most of it's good. That's
part around the labeling requirements we're not in favor of.
Why Basically there's an economic costners also a consumer information
issue here. You know, it's going to restrict the ability
(00:54):
for people to say whether this is organic product, whether
it's got A two in it, whether it doesn't contain additives,
and a range of other little things like that. That
it's sort of all put on the you're only allowed
to put it on the nutrition panel on the back,
so you know, I'm not happy with not treating people
(01:16):
like adults. And then on the economic side, it's going
to put our products at a disadvantage in e commerce
trade in China compared to European products. So those are
sort of the reasons why. You know, it's only a
small part of the whole standard. Overall, there's a lot
of good in the standard, but we're going to ask
(01:37):
for a review on this part to try and try
and get the whole thing looking good some.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Of if you read a little bit in depth in
this particular proposal, there's also a call for some of
the stuff to be taken off the supermarket shelves and
only sold by dietitians and pharmacies and doctors and so on.
It's a subcategory called special medical Purpose Products for infants,
but we are struggling to figure out exactly what that covers.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Do you know, To the best of my knowledge, it's
what my second daughter was on. She had reactions to
her formula that she was on, and she had to
go on to a special product that the doctor recommended
so that it wouldn't cause exner in her. And so
I mean that was the you know, we found she
(02:20):
was getting exmer but I.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Mean that can just be that could just be goat milk, right,
are we talking about just goat milk?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
No, we went to goat milk first? Well, yes, no,
not goat milk. This will be lectors free. And then
it gets even more specialized than that.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Andrew at the moment, can you buy that stuff in
the supermarket?
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Apparently yes, but I'm not. I know for us, we
actually got it through the chemist and this.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Was the German producer who's recently had a baby, says,
you can get it on the supermarket shelf. Now what's
the thing, Like, what's the logic in this? Why would
we take it off the supermarket shows amount? I'm not
I'm not going to go and buy this stuff from
my baby. It's expensive if I don't need to, So
what are we trying to prevent?
Speaker 1 (03:07):
To be honest, it's the questions I've been asking, and
I'll continue to ask on Thursday. The best answer I've
had is that people could be I don't know. I
think that they're by buying a special product, they're buying
something very good for their baby, and they're feeding their
babies something they don't need to be fed, so like
an elergen free product which may actually encourage eligence later
(03:30):
in life. So it's the best example I've been given,
but I'll certainly be asking more questions on that one.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Andrew, how have we got to the point where we
have people who are setting standards for our food treating
something which keeps babies alive as a prohibited product.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Well, this goes all the way back to how it
was the review was set up, where I guess the
focus was solely on health and the formula in particular.
You've got, coming out of who you know, a real
push and it's been there for many years that there
shouldn't be very little advertising of infant formula because otherwise
(04:15):
taken away from the whole rest best argument, and I
think that's the overground writing sort of philosophy behind all
this stuff. Quite frankly, I would much prefer that is
it safe. If it's safe, then you know, let people
make informed choices.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Okay, so you said you're going to call for a review,
which essentially is the thing that kind of you know,
that stops this from happening at least to the short term.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Are they well reviews the section so I've only got
two options. Either I call for a review or I
say we'll have modified standard here in New Zealand. So
we'll call for a review, and if I'm not supported
by the other ministers, then we will in all likelihood
call for modify.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
And what do you mean you must have talked to them, Andrew?
Are they going to what are the Australians saying? Are
they keen on this?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Don't see the issue? And it's fair to say, you know,
I'll be raising it again and hopefully they get the
sense that I'm pretty strong on this.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
And how many of these ministers are women.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
I think I might be in a minority in this group.
I think there's one of the worse. I won't come
in on that, Heaver, I'll let you do.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
That, Okay, fair enough. I think there's a wise decision actually, Andrew, okay, listen,
just tell me really quickly. So on the review, you
call for a review, if they supported, Let's say that
there's a review, does that actually stop it in its
tracks or does it just delay it?
Speaker 1 (05:44):
It does the review of Achille for these parts around
the labeling requirements of looking into because there wasn't economic
analysis done on this part So we're looking at the
economic analysis the Empire on particular New Zealand because there
are a few reasons if we can call for a review.
(06:06):
One is because we don't believe it's consistent with global standards,
and there's a part of that because the user they
able to not do this stuff, and also economic impact
and safety of course, so you know, we'll be focusing
on the review around the primarily around the economic impact
this would have on New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Andrew, best of Lakahi, you're flying out to deal with
this tomorrow, so go Well, that's Andrew Hoggard, the Minister
for Food Safety. Women. Hey, women, Hay, always the bigger problem,
isn't it. It's always women who are the big problem
for women. Dudes, chill about this kind of thing. Anyway.
That's all we're going to say about it. I'm sure
they're going to deal with this later on.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
For more from Hither Duplassy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
Together duper z L.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
Back to those proposed rules around infant formula. The proposal
to the proposal is to white label the cans of
formula and then take some of the cans out of supermarkets.
And these proposals come from Food Safety of Food Standards
Australia and New Zealand. They set the rules around food
for both of the countries. But whether this actually happens
seems to lie in the hands of the food ministers
from both countries. They will meet on Thursday. Our Minister
(00:24):
for Food Safety is Andrew Hogart is with me. Now, hey, Andrew,
do you like this idea or hate it?
Speaker 1 (00:31):
Not a Well, there's lots there's about six hundred of
pages to the whole standard. Most of it's good. That's
part around the labeling requirements we're not in favor of.
Why Basically there's an economic costners also a consumer information
issue here. You know, it's going to restrict the ability
(00:54):
for people to say whether this is organic product, whether
it's got A two in it, whether it doesn't contain additives,
and a range of other little things like that. That
it's sort of all put on the you're only allowed
to put it on the nutrition panel on the back,
so you know, I'm not happy with not treating people
(01:16):
like adults. And then on the economic side, it's going
to put our products at a disadvantage in e commerce
trade in China compared to European products. So those are
sort of the reasons why. You know, it's only a
small part of the whole standard. Overall, there's a lot
of good in the standard, but we're going to ask
(01:37):
for a review on this part to try and try
and get the whole thing looking good some.
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Of if you read a little bit in depth in
this particular proposal, there's also a call for some of
the stuff to be taken off the supermarket shelves and
only sold by dietitians and pharmacies and doctors and so on.
It's a subcategory called special medical Purpose Products for infants,
but we are struggling to figure out exactly what that covers.
Speaker 1 (01:59):
Do you know, To the best of my knowledge, it's
what my second daughter was on. She had reactions to
her formula that she was on, and she had to
go on to a special product that the doctor recommended
so that it wouldn't cause exner in her. And so
I mean that was the you know, we found she
(02:20):
was getting exmer but I.
Speaker 2 (02:22):
Mean that can just be that could just be goat milk, right,
are we talking about just goat milk?
Speaker 1 (02:27):
No, we went to goat milk first? Well, yes, no,
not goat milk. This will be lectors free. And then
it gets even more specialized than that.
Speaker 2 (02:37):
Andrew at the moment, can you buy that stuff in
the supermarket?
Speaker 1 (02:43):
Apparently yes, but I'm not. I know for us, we
actually got it through the chemist and this.
Speaker 2 (02:50):
Was the German producer who's recently had a baby, says,
you can get it on the supermarket shelf. Now what's
the thing, Like, what's the logic in this? Why would
we take it off the supermarket shows amount? I'm not
I'm not going to go and buy this stuff from
my baby. It's expensive if I don't need to, So
what are we trying to prevent?
Speaker 1 (03:07):
To be honest, it's the questions I've been asking, and
I'll continue to ask on Thursday. The best answer I've
had is that people could be I don't know. I
think that they're by buying a special product, they're buying
something very good for their baby, and they're feeding their
babies something they don't need to be fed, so like
an elergen free product which may actually encourage eligence later
(03:30):
in life. So it's the best example I've been given,
but I'll certainly be asking more questions on that one.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
Andrew, how have we got to the point where we
have people who are setting standards for our food treating
something which keeps babies alive as a prohibited product.
Speaker 1 (03:50):
Well, this goes all the way back to how it
was the review was set up, where I guess the
focus was solely on health and the formula in particular.
You've got, coming out of who you know, a real
push and it's been there for many years that there
shouldn't be very little advertising of infant formula because otherwise
(04:15):
taken away from the whole rest best argument, and I
think that's the overground writing sort of philosophy behind all
this stuff. Quite frankly, I would much prefer that is
it safe. If it's safe, then you know, let people
make informed choices.
Speaker 2 (04:33):
Okay, so you said you're going to call for a review,
which essentially is the thing that kind of you know,
that stops this from happening at least to the short term.
Speaker 1 (04:40):
Are they well reviews the section so I've only got
two options. Either I call for a review or I
say we'll have modified standard here in New Zealand. So
we'll call for a review, and if I'm not supported
by the other ministers, then we will in all likelihood
call for modify.
Speaker 2 (05:00):
And what do you mean you must have talked to them, Andrew?
Are they going to what are the Australians saying? Are
they keen on this?
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Don't see the issue? And it's fair to say, you know,
I'll be raising it again and hopefully they get the
sense that I'm pretty strong on this.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
And how many of these ministers are women.
Speaker 1 (05:23):
I think I might be in a minority in this group.
I think there's one of the worse. I won't come
in on that, Heaver, I'll let you do.
Speaker 2 (05:32):
That, Okay, fair enough. I think there's a wise decision actually, Andrew, okay, listen,
just tell me really quickly. So on the review, you
call for a review, if they supported, Let's say that
there's a review, does that actually stop it in its
tracks or does it just delay it?
Speaker 1 (05:44):
It does the review of Achille for these parts around
the labeling requirements of looking into because there wasn't economic
analysis done on this part So we're looking at the
economic analysis the Empire on particular New Zealand because there
are a few reasons if we can call for a review.
(06:06):
One is because we don't believe it's consistent with global standards,
and there's a part of that because the user they
able to not do this stuff, and also economic impact
and safety of course, so you know, we'll be focusing
on the review around the primarily around the economic impact
this would have on New Zealand.
Speaker 2 (06:26):
Andrew, best of Lakahi, you're flying out to deal with
this tomorrow, so go Well, that's Andrew Hoggard, the Minister
for Food Safety. Women. Hey, women, Hay, always the bigger problem,
isn't it. It's always women who are the big problem
for women. Dudes, chill about this kind of thing. Anyway.
That's all we're going to say about it. I'm sure
they're going to deal with this later on.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
For more from Hither Duplassy Allen Drive, listen live to
news talks. It'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow
the podcast on iHeartRadio.
Popular Podcasts
40s and Free Agents: NFL Draft Season
Daniel Jeremiah of Move the Sticks and Gregg Rosenthal of NFL Daily join forces to break down every team's needs this offseason.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Bobby Bones Show
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.