Hemp Seed Foods Could Soon be sold in Australia and New Zealand
Food Standards Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ), a binational government agency that regulates food in Australia and New Zealand, has approved the sale of foods derived from low-THC hemp seeds and other food made from the hemp plant. The proposal will not be finalized until it gets approval from local governments and the Australian Department of Health.
Hemp seeds are considered a superfood due to the fact that they contain protein, vitamins, minerals and polyunsaturated fatty acids. Hemp is cultivated in Australia and New Zealand, but only for the purpose of a clothing or building fiber source, with the exception of hemp seed oil in New Zealand. Currently, Australia’s Food Standards Code prohibits the use of hemp seeds in food.
Hemp Foods Australia founder and CEO Paul Benhaim has been lobbying for hemp for 18 years. “You can buy hempseed bagels anywhere around the world, except in Australia,” Benhaim told C&I Week. “Hemp seed is very versatile. It has the nutritional profile of a true superfood, with Omega-3, -6 and -9 and GLA essential fatty acids, and they also taste really good. The four main raw products are hemp seeds, oil, protein and flour, and they can be used in everything from bakery products . . . to snack bars, breakfast cereals, ready meals, cooked sauces, salad dressings and more obvious products like that.” Benhaim would like to make those kind of products available down under.
The policy still needs the approval of local governments which could happen as early as the next meeting of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in April. The proposal is expected to be granted on April 28, 2017, however, some Member of Parliament (also called MP’s) are not completely confident that COAG will approve hemp as a food. The sale of hemp foods could become available in Australia stores by November 2017. According to Benhaim, Australia and New Zealand are the last two nations in the Western world that have yet to approve hemp foods.
