The Challenge of Food Labelling

Food labels provide a wide range of information to help consumers make educated food choices. Food labels also help to protect public health and safety by displaying information such as use-by-dates, additives and ingredients, allergens, instructions for safe storage and preparation, and advisory and warning statements.

A major challenge for the food industry is understanding the regulatory standards governing the way food is to be labelled. This includes requirements for ingredient lists and percentage labelling, nutrition information panels, food additive labelling, allergen labelling, country of origin labelling, use-by and best-before dates, warning and advisory statements, and restrictions on health claims (nutrition, health and related claims).

So, how do food companies in Australia and New Zealand ensure they are complying with all law? It requires a good understanding of the labelling standards as described in Part 1.2 Labelling and other information requirements in the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. These standards apply to food businesses in both Australia and New Zealand and set out when a food for sale is required to bear a label or have other information provided with it and describes the information that is to be provided. There is also guidance on the legibility and prominence of information required on labels.

In this webinar, Deon Mahoney provides an overview of food labelling, and its role in protecting public health and in assisting consumers to make informed choices. It will also delve into the ever changing regulatory environment of food labelling, and the importance of getting your labels right.