Businesses have three years to complete the transition to new food standards which were introduced in January.
The new Health Claims Standard will regulate the use of both express and implied nutrition content and health claims made on food labels, as well as in associated advertising and promotional material. They complement existing consumer law by addressing concerns that consumers are being misled by the presence of health claims on foods of low nutritional value.
There are 212 pre-approved food-health relationships in the Health Claims Standard. Food businesses can also self-substantiate some health claims. Foods which are less nutritious than is required by the nutrition profiling scoring criterion will not be able to carry a health claim under the new regime. Therapeutic claims continue to be disallowed.
The new standards will operate alongside a transitional standard for three years. During this time food labelling must comply with either the old or the new regime but there will be no sell-off period for businesses to sell stock at the end of the transitional period.
