The Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code has recently been amended to restrict the claims able to be made by food suppliers regarding sugars.
Sugars in foods and beverages contribute more energy to typical diets in New Zealand than is recommended. The regulatory changes have been made to prevent products that contain high levels of sugar, such as fruit juices, from being labelled as having no added sugar.
The reason for this is that research has shown that where “No Added Sugar” claims are made to products are naturally high in sugar, a large proportion of consumers believe them to be a healthy choice.
The changes to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (ANZFSC) took effect on 13 December 2023. However, a transition period of 4 years has been granted before “no added sugar” claims must comply with these requirements. Following this there is a stock in trade provision allowing products labelled prior to 13 December 2027 to be sold up until 13 December 2029.
No Added Sugar:
When implemented, these changes to Schedule 4 of the ANZFSC will not permit claims of “No Added Sugar” when no sugar has been added, but:
Foods contain more than 10 g of total sugars per 100 g of solid foods, or
Beverages contain more than 7.5 g of total sugars per 100 ml of the liquid food
The code now also defines what constitutes ‘added sugars’.
Added Sugars include 13 different classes of sugars:
hexose monosaccharides and disaccharides
low energy hexose monosaccharide D-tagatose
starch hydrolysate
glucose syrup
maltodextrin and similar products
a product derived at a sugar refinery (including brown sugar, molasses, raw sugar, golden syrup & treacle)
icing sugar
invert sugar
sugar and sugar syrup derived from plants
honey
malt
malt extracts
any of the following unless the food for sale is a prescribed beverage: concentrated fruit juice, concentrated vegetable juice, deionised fruit juice & deionised vegetable juice
When used in “prescribed beverages” the following are exempted: concentrated fruit juice, concentrated vegetable juice, deionised fruit juice & deionised vegetable juice.
Prescribed beverages are:
brewed soft drinks
formulated beverages
juice blends
fruit drinks
fruit juices
vegetable juices
water-based beverages
Unsweetened:
Within the Conditions for nutrition content claims of section of Schedule 4 – 3 (Sugar or sugars) there have also been minor changes regarding “Unsweetened” claims. Now foods and beverages containing the intense sweetener erythritol, and the low energy mono-saccharide D-tagatose may not be described as “Unsweetened”.
Conditions for Nutrition Content Claims:
It’s important that any claims made in relation to products comply with the ANSFSC requirements. The rules around claims are not limited to product labels. Any advertising or publicity material (including websites) that presents or implies certain features in food products must both be truthful and comply with the requirements of the Code.
If you currently make “No Added Sugar” claims on your products, you will need to check that they remain compliant and if not, ensure labels and supporting media have been revised to meet these requirements and are in use when the transition period ends.
For anyone wanting help with their Label Claims, or product formulations to allow specific claims to be made, please contact us.
