Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) has called for submissions on an application which seeks to permit the use of an alternative (lower calorie) sweetener and bulk filler.

FSANZ Chief Executive Officer Steve McCutcheon said Essence Group Pty Ltd had applied for Isomalto-oligosaccharide (IMO) to be permitted for use as a novel food.

“FSANZ’s safety assessment concluded that for its intended use, IMO was safe for the general population,” Mr McCutcheon said.

IMO, which is permitted in a number of other countries, can be used as an alternative to other carbohydrate bulk sweeteners such as sucrose, glucose, fructose and high fructose or maltose syrups.

All FSANZ decisions on applications are notified to ministers responsible for food regulation who can decide to ask for a review or agree that the standard should become law.

The closing date for submissions is 6pm (Canberra time) 3 February 2016.

More information
A1123 – Isomalto-oligosaccharide as a Novel Food
How to make a submission

http://www.foodstandards.gov.au/media/Pages/Call-for-submissions-on-a-new-sweetener.aspx