The Symposium resolved that the following list of
recommendations which were produced by workshops
and agreed to in plenary session should be transmitted to
Federal and State Ministers of Health:
- The Symposium commended the Commonwealth Department
of Community Services and Health highly for the
production of the new official Composition of foods, Australia
(COFA) (Cashel & others 1989) and the related computer
data base NUTTAB (Commonwealth Department of Community
Services & Health 1989). This publication and the
ongoing associated program were recognised to be of
indispensable value for the promotion of better health in
Australia and essential tools for the ongoing monitoring of
the nutritional quality of the national food supply.
- The Symposium recognised the need for a commitment
of ongoing resources to secure the future of the program,
and that these resources not only be for continuing
analytical work but also, and most importantly, for the
qualified staffing resources required for the scrutiny and
management of the analytical data in the production of the
printed tables and computerised data base. The need for
printing and computer costs was also recognised by the
meeting.
- The Symposium noted that many of the analytical data
which had been produced under the program were still
awaiting release and urged that high priority be given to
releasing these data as additional volumes of COFA as soon
as possible.
- The Symposium also noted the complexity and size of the
first volume of COFA and urged that a set of simplified
tables for consumer use be produced as soon as possible.
- The Symposium noted that specialised needs for data on
non-nutrients in foods existed but believed that top priority
should still be given to analysing more foods for the
existing nutrient profile as soon as possible. The priorities
for foods on which nutrient data are needed are: non-alcoholic
beverages; dairy products; confectionery; take-away
foods (non-branded); ethnic group foods; baby foods;
infant formulas; sauces and pickles; and frozen packaged
meals.
- The Symposium agreed that the priorities for nutrient
data should be as follows: proximate data and a carbohydrate
profile should be generated on all foods and top
priority should be given to this; other nutrients should be
prioritised on a public health needs basis; where analytical
data cannot be obtained by reason of expense, lack of
facilities etc, data should be estimated from overseas data
for similar foods; calculation factors are needed for nutrient
losses and gains during processing, storage and preparation;
a method to indicate bioavailability of nutrients in particular
foods is needed for compiled data; research into
methodology for nutrients such as folate, vitamin B12'
vitamin B6 and biotin should be carried out.
- The Symposium urged that a mechanism be found for
laboratories commissioned under the Australian analytical
program to publish their data independently on completion
of analysis of particular groups of foods, in recognition of
the delays necessitated by the data management and
printing processes in production of the printed tables and
NUTTAB.
- The Symposium noted the use, potential use and
potential for abuse of nutrient data in the labelling and
promotion of foods, and recognised the need for consumer
education programs to enable the public to use the
information to the best advantage in terms of health and
value for money.
- The Symposium noted the size and price of the first
volume of COFA and the availability of NUTTAB. It
stressed the need for a review of the pricing structure of
such an essential public information resource; the desirability
of a package comprising tables and diskette to be
available for purchase; the need for the tables and
NUTTAB to conform with each other; the need for the
tables to contain the additional feature of printed lists of
foods by nutrient so that the comparative value of foods
could easily be recognised; the need to extend the computer
format; and the usefulness of an independent glossary of
food names.
- The Symposium noted that the original advisory
committee structure for the program had been of necessity
modified over time, and highlighted the need for groups of
end users to be requested to make formal inputs into the
program in the future.
References
Cashel, K, Lewis, J & English, R. 1989. Composition of foods, Australia.
Canberra: AGPS.
Commonwealth Department of Community Services and Health. 1989.
NUTTAB89. Nutrient data table for use in Australia. Disk format.
Canberra: AGPS.
