Draft NHMRC Public Statement 2017: Water fluoridation and human health in Australia submission

ID:

This submission reflects the views of

Organisation Name:

Australian Beverages Council

Personal Details

Question 1

Q1. A. The draft Public Statement is presented in a format and manner that is useful, and is easy to read and understand:

Agree

Comments on a particular section of the Public Statement:

Question 2

Q2. A. The boxed ‘NHMRC statement’ (page one) in the draft Public Statement is justified and supported by the evidence in the Information Paper: Effects of Water Fluoridation on Dental and Other Human Health Outcomes :

Agree

Question 3

Q3. A. For policy makers, the draft Public Statement provides sufficient information to support decision making in your jurisdiction or local area:

Comments on a particular section of the Public Statement:

Question 4

Q4. How could the Public Statement be effectively disseminated?:

General comments

The Australian Beverages Council would be happy to refer to the statement on our website.

Question 5

Q5. Is there any other information that may be useful to include in the draft Public Statement? If so, please provide details:

The Australian Beverages Council notes that in the Food Standards Code Standard at 2.6.2 Clause 4 – the Addition of fluoride to packaged water states that:

“the total amount of naturally occurring and any added fluoride is no less than 0.6 mg/L and no more than 1.0mg/L”.

Conversely, the NHMRC Statement on the same topic, allows for a range of 0.6 to 1.1 mg/L.

The Australian Beverages Council would strongly encourage the NHMRC and FSANZ to harmonise these to prescriptive statements, aligning them to prevent any possible confusion.

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Draft NHMRC Public Statement 2017: Water fluoridation and human health in Australia submission