Ask the expert: Why are some food additives allowed in Australia but banned overseas?

Question:

I’ve noticed there are some differences in the levels of certain food chemicals, additives or pesticides tolerated by food safety authorities here in Australia compared with what European standards are. And some additives banned in Europe are still used here. Why is this, if both are meant to be based on science? -Richard, via email

Answer:

You’re right, some additives and colours are banned overseas but still allowed here in Australia and New Zealand. But that doesn’t always mean our standards are lower – it’s more about how different countries assess risk.

In Europe, regulators tend to take a ‘better safe than sorry’ approach. If there’s any uncertainty, they might ban or pause the use of an additive until more research is available. Here, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) uses what’s called a risk-based approach – looking at how much of that additive people actually consume, how it behaves in the body, and whether those amounts are well below any level that could cause harm.

Sometimes the difference just comes down to paperwork – maybe no company has applied for approval here or there, or older bans overseas were never revisited even after new studies
found the additive to be safe.

The bottom line is: all additives allowed in Australia and New Zealand go through strict safety assessments before they hit the market. So, when you see something that’s ‘banned overseas,’ it usually reflects a difference in regulatory philosophy, not that one country is ignoring the science.