robert-forbes.com.au - Robert Forbes and Associates - Regulatory and technical advice to suppliers and manufacturers of complementary medicines, dietary supplements, OTC medicines, cosmetics, personal care products and foods.

Department of Agriculture, Fisheries & Forestry (DAFF) – Biosecurity

The Department of Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF), monitors imported food at the border for compliance with Australian standards. If you import food, you are responsible for meeting the standards that apply to your products to ensure they are safe and suitable for their intended use.

DAFF provides tables to list the test type and tests that apply to specific food types and the standard against which the test results are assessed. Where there are no analytical tests the food will still be subject to a visual and label assessment.

Tests applied to surveillance category foods
                        PDF [758.9 KB]

Lend a hand for food safety on World Hand Hygiene Day

NSW Food Authority got behind the World Health Organisation’s World Hand Hygiene Day on Sunday, May5th.

The NSW Food Authority has identified hand washing as one of its golden food safety rules. It’s one of the simplest, most important and easiest ways to prevent illness.

The NSW Food Authority’s Name and Shame website, which allows consumers to view businesses that have failed to meet food safety standards, had a number of businesses on the register for hand washing offences. Hand washing offences are up there in the top five most common food safety breaches under the Food Act, accounting for 13% of breaches in 2010-11.

The Authority is also committed to encouraging and promoting training and learning through programs like Food Safety Supervisor. This is a training initiative designed to improve skills and knowledge in the industry - with close to 50,000 people in NSW having completed the training. There is a fact sheet available outlining the correct method for hand washing at

www.foodauthority.nsw.gov.au/_Documents/industry_pdf/hand_washing.pdf

Food Standards Australia & New Zealand (FSANZ) opens “Food allergen portal”

This portal acts as a gateway for both consumers and professionals. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Food allergies can be life threatening. For people who have a food allergy the only way to manage the allergy is to avoid the food allergen. For this reason there are laws in place, for example mandatory labelling requirements to help people who have a food allergy avoid food allergens.

This food allergen portal was created by the Allergen Collaboration to provide different sectors in the community with links to best practice food allergen resources and key messages to promote in the different sectors such as: Information for food industry (manufacturers and retailers, food service and importers) ; Information for consumers; Information for childcare centres and schools; Information for health professionals; and Information for government organisations

Complementary Medicine registered with TGA.

NeuroTabs have been successfully registered on ARTG (209079 - AFT Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd) .

Whilst complementary medicines are routinely ‘Listed’, it is rare that a complementary medicine is ‘Registered’.

Background information on registered complementary medicines is available on the TGA website.

NeuroTabs are potassium iodate (253 micrograms tablet bottle) and used for the prophylaxis and treatment of iodine deficiency disorders.

BSN Hyper Shred capsules

BSN Hyper Shred capsules pose a serious risk to your health and should not be taken.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) has tested BSN Hyper Shred capsules and found that they contain the substance oxedrine (aka synepherine) at levels that require a prescription.

Consumers are advised that oxedrine is a prescription-only medicine. There are currently no products on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG) containing the substance oxedrine.

(Oxedrine may pose health risks which may be seriously increased if taken with interacting drugs by people consuming this product). The supply of BSN Hyper Shred capsules is illegal.

BSN Hyper Shred capsules have not been assessed by the TGA for quality, safety or efficacy as required under Australian legislation, and the place of manufacture is not approved by the TGA.

The TGA is working with Australian Customs and Border Protection Services (Customs) to help stop future shipments of BSN Hyper Shred capsules from entering Australia.

The following advice is for health professionals and cosmetic/beauty clinics who advertise services that involve therapeutic goods containing Schedule 4 (prescription-only) substances.

Advertising of prescription-only products to consumers is illegal. Generally, it is an offence the Therapeutic Goods Act for a person to publish or broadcast an advertisement about therapeutic goods that contains a statement referring to goods, or substances or preparations containing goods, included in Schedules 3, 4 or 8 of the Poisons Standard. This offence attracts a maximum penalty of $10,200 for an individual and $51,000 for a body corporate.

The Act broadly defines an advertisement in relation to therapeutic goods as including any statement, pictorial representation or design, however made, that is intended, whether directly or indirectly, to promote the use or supply of the goods.

 Some health professionals and cosmetic/beauty clinics are advertising, to the general public, therapeutic goods or substances that are designated 'prescription-only' items. These products include cosmetic injections such as: “Restylane, Perlane, Hylaform Collagen, Botox, Newfill, Sculptra, Aquamid” and others. These products are generally administered for the purpose of temporarily removing/reducing wrinkles and lines on the face, around the eyes, forehead, lips and neck.

To enable health professionals and cosmetic/beauty clinics to continue promoting their businesses and services to consumers, while also complying with the regulatory advertising requirements for therapeutic goods, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) advises that there should be no reference in advertisements to individual Schedule 4 items. However, the following acceptable general terms and phrases may be used in advertising:

“cosmetic injections; (anti-) wrinkle injections/treatments;injections/treatments for lips/ fine lines/folds/age lines; wrinkle and lip enhancement/fulfillment/augmentation; injections to enhance pouting of the lips; and/or injections which reduce the depth of fine lines/wrinkles around the face/lips”.

Other words and phrases with similar meaning may also be used, provided that they do not refer to specific products or ingredient names. It is not acceptable to use acronyms, nicknames or abbreviations of the medicine’s name, which may be taken by a consumer to be a "reference" to a specific medicine or substance.