HEMP TOUTED AS A HEALTHY FOOD

Hemp growers want the Government to overturn food standards that are
preventing them from establishing a food-product industry in
Canterbury. Industrial hemp, related to the cannabis-plant species,
can be grown in New Zealand for oil-seed extraction, but regulations
prohibit the rest of the low-THC (tetrahydrocannabinol) plant from
being developed into a food product.

The major challenge facing hemp growing was the lack of consent to
sell hemp-seed foods, said the director of Midlands Seeds and
managing director of Oil Seed Extractions, Andrew Davidson.

The latter company had a licence to process hemp, but could sell only
hemp-seed oil, he said.

Davidson said the hurdle would have to be overcome if the industry
was to develop hemp's commercial advantage in crop production and
justify the investment required to develop a fibre-processing plant.

"The Government believes it will send a mixed message to the public
about hemp versus marijuana, with which we strongly disagree, because
Canada, the United States and Western Europe are successfully selling
hemp-seed foods."

The main food product in these countries is de-oiled seed meal, which
is ground into flour and used as a nutritional protein source.

Davidson said New Zealand would lose out on a host of potential
biomedical benefits from growing hemp crops, such as the removal of
untreated chemical residuals and the lowering of nitrogen levels.

"We can grow the raw material, but we can only sell 20 per cent (as
oil). We cannot sell the other 80%, which is nutritional food,
suitable for human consumption."

The food standards are regulated by the New Zealand Food Safety
Authority and Food Standards Australia New Zealand.

Hemp supporters are unhappy about the voting arrangement of the
Australia and New Zealand Food Regulation Ministerial Council, which
determines hemp policy. The Minister of Health, Annette King, is the
only New Zealander with voting rights in the policy group.

Davidson said the membership did not represent the interests of New
Zealand hemp because Australia does not have the agronomic
infrastructure of Canterbury to grow hemp.

Last year, the vote was 5-4 against a change to food standards.

Fibres produced from hemp are widely used overseas in fabrics and
composites, but fibre production is considered a long-term prospect
for New Zealand because there is no infrastructure. Hemp's profile is
being promoted by the Sustainable Hemp Co-operative, which includes
Midlands Seeds, Biopolymer Network, AgResearch-owned Canesis Network,
Crop and Food Research, Scion, Plant Research, New Hemisphere, Oil
Seed Extractions, Winslow Feeds and PPCS.

Midlands Seeds is doing evaluation trials of five new fibre cultivars
and five oil-seed varieties to investigate features from sowing and
harvesting to fibre quality. The trials are on a 20ha commercial hemp
oil-seed crop planted at the PPCS research farm at Fairton, which
will be harvested in the next three weeks.

Hemp is grown for cold pressing into hemp-seed oil by Oil Seed
Extraction, a subsidiary of Midlands.

It is sold by New Hemisphere as a functional food or as a skin-care
ingredient. Midlands grows about 70 per cent of New Zealand's hemp
production of 50ha to 100ha.