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Protecting legal rights when things go wrong : legal recourse if mandatory fortification of a food were to harm human health

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journal contribution
posted on 2009-01-01, 00:00 authored by J Lederman
Food laws can encompass considerations that extend beyond food safety. The recent food standard mandating the fortification of flour with folic acid in Australia illustrates the legal problems and legal risks when governments introduce food standards that aim to medicinalise the population through the food supply despite a lack of scientific consensus. Legal analysis of the process by which the folic acid fortification was introduced into flour in Australia demonstrates legal inadequacies, administrative and policy failures, as well as flaws in safety assumptions. An analysis of the restrictions on legal rights and remedies for any adversely affected consumers seeking legal redress, and the existence of statutory immunities for governments, demonstrates a need for legal reform and changes in policy development processes.

History

Journal

Deakin law review

Volume

14

Pagination

367 - 395

Location

Burwood, Vic.

Open access

  • Yes

ISSN

1321-3660

Language

eng

Publication classification

C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal

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