Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Members may remember when I spoke in the House earlier this year about coeliac disease to raise awareness of the community prevalence, the symptoms and the management of the disease. Coeliac disease is an immune-based illness caused by gluten and it is estimated to affect one in 70 Australians, but, unfortunately, 80 per cent are undiagnosed. This is a significant medical condition, which, if undiagnosed or mistreated, can cause serious health problems. For those with coeliac disease there is no cure. Management of the disease comes with a lifelong gluten free diet. This takes a lot of research, questioning and label reading to maintain, but when done correctly a lifelong gluten free diet can prevent or reverse many of the symptoms of this illness.

Australia currently has the tightest regulations and the lowest levels of gluten in gluten free food, enabling those with coeliac disease to make informed decisions about the foods that can have a profound impact on their health. Of concern is the current proposal to raise the limit of allowable gluten in gluten free food from no detectable gluten to 20 parts per million gluten. I appreciate that countries such as the USA and Canada accept 20 parts per million. I note the argument being put by those supporting a loosening of the current Food Standards Australia New Zealand definition that as testing technology becomes more advanced and sophisticated and much lower levels of gluten can be detected it will become increasingly difficult for manufacturers to meet the current definition of an undetectable level of gluten.

I understand that those with coeliac disease want a wide choice of food to eat but they do rely on correct food labelling to choose foods that are appropriately and correctly marked as gluten free and therefore safe for them to consume. In my view and I know in the view of others, the continuing health of those diagnosed with coeliac disease should be the priority in determining labelling of gluten free foods. So a safe level of gluten is certainly more important than manufacturing ease and cross-contamination issues.

In 2013, in a letter published in the Medical Journal of Australia, Dr Geoffrey Forbes noted that there are few high quality studies determining a safe gluten intake for patients with coeliac disease, although it is known that tolerable amounts vary between patients. He refers to a 2011 United States Food and Drug Administration safety report which concluded that gluten levels in food of less than one part per million are required to protect the greatest number of patients with coeliac disease.

I agree with Dr Forbes's comments in that letter that the concept of doing no harm in health care is paramount. Increasing the permissible level of gluten from undetectable to less than 20 parts per million will increase the overall amount of gluten that is ingested in a gluten free diet and that for an as yet undetermined proportion of patients with coeliac disease this will lead to adverse health outcomes and generate additional health costs. I strongly oppose the proposed changes to allow gluten levels in gluten free foods, as the proposed new gluten free standard may not be safe for those individuals who have coeliac disease.