The Parliamentary Secretary for Health and Ageing, Catherine King, today launched the new version of a popular Nutrition Panel Calculator (NPC); used by industry to provide important nutrition information on food labels.
“The NPC has been available since 2001 and is the most popular feature on the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) website, attracting about 10,000 unique visitors per month,” Ms King said.
“It gives people in the food industry an easy-to-use tool that helps them prepare the nutrition information panel required for most products under the Food Standards Code,” she said.
Ms King said feedback from users to FSANZ and the availability of new data meant it was time to give the calculator a makeover.
“FSANZ has updated the nutrient database that runs behind the NPC and improved the web interface to make it easier to use.”
Some of the main features of the upgrade include incorporation of the latest Australian nutrient data and new ingredients. The new NPC includes nutrient data for about 80 commonly requested ingredients not previously available. These include gluten free flours, herbs, sugar alcohols and sodium-containing food additives.
“Food names and descriptions have been revised along with energy equations to ensure energy values better reflect the energy content of certain foods,” Ms King said.
“The new NPC also includes improvements to the web interface including better layout and presentation, an improved search function and new save and print features.
“The NPC is an important tool for a great number of food producers in Australia and this new improved version will no doubt be welcomed by industry.”
AIFST is a national association representing individuals like you from all sectors of the Australian food and allied industries, giving you exposure to all aspects of the agrifood sector.