Small businesses gearing up for big change with food labelling

A change in legislation around the food we eat every day is set to rock local businesses, who have been urged not panic about the major changes.

Jasmine Lacis-Lee, Donna Blackhall and Bruce McConnel.

Small businesses across the region are preparing for new legislation that will drastically alter the food is packaged and labelled.

In the interest of full disclosure for customers across the country, businesses will be legally required to put more detail on the labels of their products after The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code was amended earlier this year.

The Toowoomba and Surat Basin Enterprise hosted an industry workshop for local businesses to provide updates on the new requirements.

Food safety manager Jasmine Lacis-Lee said it was also a chance to discuss some emerging issues in the allergens space, and what that might mean for the food industry supply chain.

Allergens are the leading reason for recalls in the country, and have been since 2013.

Experts believe errors in packaging are the reason for the shockingly high statistics.

“The change in the legislation has really come about from trying to ensure that allergen labelling is clear and concise for the allergic consumer,” Ms Lacis-Lee said.

“Industry has three years to comply with the new Plain English Allergen Labelling changes, so businesses need to be updated and prepared.”

BVAQ business development manager Donna Blackhall said recall was one of the biggest issues for companies.

“If the labelling isn’t correct, there is the opportunity that the product could be recalled and it’s one of the biggest risk factors and cost to a business,” she said.

“At BVAQ we provide services that help organisations to actually take the necessary analytical allergen testing to ensure that their labelling is correct.”

Attendees of the workshop were advised not to panic due to the changes, but research and educate themselves and to create a plan to meet the new requirements.

Jim’s Jerky CEO Emily Pullen said the new changes would have big implications on local businesses like hers.

“The workshop has been really informative with the nature of being able to ask questions,” she said.

“We can log in and look at the legislation, but actually having a subject matter expert answer our questions is really good.”