{"id":46840,"date":"2026-07-08T23:03:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-08T23:03:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/46840\/"},"modified":"2026-07-08T23:03:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-08T23:03:12","slug":"moringa-oleifera-growers-push-to-overturn-ban-on-ancient-superfood","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/46840\/","title":{"rendered":"Moringa oleifera growers push to overturn ban on ancient ‘superfood’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Australian Moringa oleifera growers are unsure whether they will able to sell their product after the next harvest.<\/p>\n

Moringa cannot be sold as a food or food ingredient after Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) ruled in November 2025 that it was unable to establish that it was safe for human consumption.<\/p>\n

Somerset region grower Gary Duffy is leading an appeal to reverse the decision.<\/p>\n

“Our livelihood relies on the application being successful,” he said.<\/p>\n

Parts of Moringa oleifera, or drumstick tree, are used in Eastern recipes and in health supplements.<\/p>\n

The FSANZ ruling applies to the leaves, immature pods and oils of the plant, which can now be destroyed at the Australian border or re-exported.<\/p>\n

However, therapeutic products or supplements that contain moringa, such as capsules and powders, will remain available for purchase only if they are registered with the Therapeutic Goods Administration [TGA].<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Registered therapeutic products that contain parts of the plant are still available. (Pixabay)<\/p>\n

Mr Duffy has written to federal, state and territory health ministers to seek a stay on the determination while FSANZ assesses his appeal.<\/p>\n

“Fresh product going into the Melbourne and Sydney markets was all imported from overseas, and we [Australian growers] want to try to bridge that gap,” he said.<\/p>\n

A spokesperson from the federal Department of Health, Disability and Ageing said the rejection was not open to FSANZ or the minister to review or suspend and advised Mr Duffy that a new application would be welcomed.<\/p>\n

A decision on his new application could take up to two years.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Joel Molloy is not sure whether he will be able to sell the crop due for harvest in summer. (ABC News: Tayla Larsen)<\/p>\n

Wide Bay grower Joel Molloy hopes there will be an outcome sooner rather than later.<\/p>\n

He was involved in the industry for 10 years before relocating from the Gold Coast to Rosedale, five hours’ drive north of Brisbane, to establish his own farm.<\/p>\n

He bought the property just before FSANZ handed down its decision.<\/p>\n

“I invested everything I had into this farm, and it’s 10 years of work, and then just overnight it’s gone,” Mr Molloy said.<\/p>\n

“It’s a kick in the guts.<\/p>\n

“We were never consulted; we were never warned.”<\/p>\n

The ban<\/p>\n

FSANZ’s decision was in response to an application in January 2024 from Noosa Organica Pty Ltd to amend the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to list Moringa oleifera as a food or food ingredient.<\/p>\n

After reviewing the application and external studies, the statutory body handed down its decision in November 2025.<\/p>\n

\"Green<\/p>\n

The FSANZ ruling prevents moringa from being sold as a food or food ingredient. (Pixabay)<\/p>\n

FSANZ’s assessment raised concerns about the reproductive effects noted in mice and conflicting results around genotoxicity.<\/p>\n

In its rejection report, FSANZ noted that information in the application or peer-reviewed literature concerning the safety of the seed pods or oil was limited.<\/p>\n

“The decision reinforces that robust high-quality scientific evidence is required when seeking approval for novel foods,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n

The authority added it could not determine a safe level of exposure without further human studies.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Courtney Stewart says food standards are in place to protect consumers. (ABC News)<\/p>\n

Food industry consultant Courtney Stewart said that was standard procedure for foods not widely available in Australia.<\/p>\n

“There might be ingredients that people wish were on the market, but FSANZ is just looking out for consumers to make sure everything is safe for consumption,” she said.<\/p>\n

“Until there is historical data to show something is safe over the long term, then they won’t approve anything, and I think that’s a good conservative approach until we have that information.”<\/p>\n

Cultural significance<\/p>\n

Parts of the plant have been used in Asia, Africa and the Middle East for centuries.<\/p>\n

University of New England biomedical science senior lecturer Vandana Gulati has researched medicinal plants for more than 20 years and said moringa’s various uses made it unique.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Vandana Gulati\u00a0says the plant has medicinal qualities, but understands the need for further research. (Supplied: Vandana Gulati)<\/p>\n

“[Oil extracted from the seeds] contains many phytochemicals that have really good activities for infections, fever and for skin health,” she said.<\/p>\n

“[In Indian culture] we use the leaves to make curries and the seed pods, which are known as the drumstick, are also used in cooking.”<\/p>\n

Dr Gulati said the culture traditionally considered the plant a “superfood” because every part had a benefit, but she understood the safety concerns for people who did not regularly consume Moringa oleifera.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian Moringa oleifera growers are unsure whether they will able to sell their product after the next harvest.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46841,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[22,21,28658,34911,34912,34908,34910,34909,34913,3815],"class_list":["post-46840","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-fsanz","tag-gary-duffy","tag-joel-molloy","tag-moringa","tag-moringa-ban","tag-moringa-oleifera","tag-rosedale-farm","tag-wide-bay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46840","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=46840"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/46840\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46841"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=46840"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=46840"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=46840"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}