What would be the consequence if an Australian food manufacturer had supplied a food without disclosing a contaminant in the same manner Shayna Jack believes has happened to her in the supplement she had taken and created a positive drug test.

Technical manager, Robyn Banks from Food Labelling Experts was questioned on the subject and suggested any potential cross contamination, although a manufacturing issue, could either be contained in the advisory (warning) statement discussing potential allergens or if part of the recipe be actually noted in the ingredient statements. Of course, the declaration of potential allergens due to cross contamination must always be assessed within the food manufacturers allergen management practices.

Failure to disclose could result in a product recall by lot, batch or total product depending on the magnitude of the failure as well potentially significant fines and civil litigation. Again, the legislation around food identification also comes into play. All matters required in a food label by law and regulation within Australia, whether produced, manufactured or imported by a supplier must be included on the label. Simply buying product over the internet as a consumer negates many of these safeguards.

Manufacturers and suppliers of food products in Australia are bound by the labelling laws to protect and inform the Australian consumers. The laws and regulations can be complex and not necessarily in one place. Food Labelling Experts, a business designed to make Labelling of Food Products simple, has designed courses at both essential and advanced levels with significant amounts of peripheral material with just that in mind.