Carolyn Lister

Biography

Dr Carolyn Lister – NZ Institute for Plant and Food Research

Carolyn completed her BSc (Hons) and PhD in plant biochemistry through the University of Canterbury. A fellowship at the University of Glasgow fuelled her interest in the role of plant pigments in human health. Her teams’ research includes identification and quantification nutrients and phytochemicals, product development and development nutrition content and health claims. As well as management of the New Zealand Food Composition Database she drives a key programme to make food composition data easier to manage as well as more accessible and relevant to users. Carolyn also has a strong interest in communicating science to a diversity of different audiences, including the public.

Nutrition and health claims: navigating the challenges of adding value

In this talk Carolyn will cover how companies can add value to their products by the use of nutrient content and/or health claims. It will span from using freely available food composition data to make nutrient content claims through to investment in developing a self-substantiation dossier for a new health claim. The talk will feature several cases studies of what can be done, as well as what shouldn’t be done, in order to be compliant with Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) regulations. We will also touch on the variation in requirements in some overseas markets. As a spotlight in the session, Paul Blatchford will provide an overview of Zespri’s recent health claim journey: from basic nutrient content claims across different markets to higher level health claims on gut health which includes self-substantiated claims under FSANZ regulations leading to an endorsement by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) – the first of its kind for a fresh whole fruit.