Foods Standard Australia New Zealand has added 14 new Indigenous foods to the Nutrition Panel Calculator (NPC). The NPC, which now has data for 2533 foods, is used by industry to provide nutrition information on food labels.
The addition of these new foods will allow food manufacturers to calculate the average nutrient content of their bush food products and prepare a Nutrition Information Panel (NIP) based on up-to-date nutrient data.
FSANZ was able to provide the new data thanks to a joint research project between the Rural Industry Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC) and the Australian Native Food Industry (ANFIL).
The new foods added are:
- Lemon myrtle (Backhousia citriodora), leaf, dried, ground (also known as Lemon ironwood and Lemon scented myrtle).
- Bush tomato (Solanum centrale), fruit, dried (also known as Desert raisin and Akudjera).
- Kakadu plum (Terminalia ferdinandiana), fruit (also known as Gubinje, Billy Goat Plum and Wild Plum).
- Finger lime (Citrus australasica), fruit.
- Desert lime (Citrus glauca), fruit.
- Anise myrtle (Syzygium anisatum), leaf, dried, ground (also known as Ringwood and Aniseed Myrtle).
- Native pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata), berry, dried (also known as Tasmanian pepperberry and Mountain pepperberry).
- Native pepper (Tasmannia lanceolata), leaf, dried, ground (also known as Tasmanian pepperleaf).
- Lemon aspen (Acronychia acidula or Acronychia subarosa), fruit juice.
- Satinash (Syzygium fibrosum), fruit (also known as Small leaf lilli pilli).
- Saltbush (Atriplex nummularia), leaf, fresh.
- River mint (Mentha australis), leaf, fresh (also known as Native mint).
- Sea Parsley (Apium prostatum), leaf, fresh.
- Olida (Eucalyptus olida), leaf, dried, ground (also known as Strawberry gum and Forest Berry Herb).
The NPC database 2011 files have also been updated to include nutrient data for these bush foods, which will also allow users to import the food and nutrient information directly into their own software, rather than use the calculator.