New Food allergen waring rules come into force on 24 February.
The changes are required where food labels are required, or when you choose to label food, such as on a menu or food cabinet. In a restaurant or cafe premises this means that if you choose to include allergen information on your menus, they must comply with the new standards, your staff must also be trained on the new standard. It is also best practice to have a resource for customers to use on request about allergens in your menu items.
Have you made changes to your allergen declarations and trained your staff?
Food businesses have until 24 February 2024 to make the changes to their labels and menus; and update staff so that they can give consumers the most up-to-date information. The new rules aim to make food allergen declarations clearer and more consistent for consumers.
The new rules:
- Allergens must be declared on the label using names specified in the new code.
- Wheat allergy, is now distinct from gluten.
- There are nine specified tree nuts that must be declared instead of ‘nuts’ or ‘tree nuts’.
- Molluscs ( Mussels, Cockels, Clams etc) must be declared separately to Fish and Crustacea.
- Processing aids must be declared in the ingredients list if it contains an allergen, such as sulphites.
- Allergens must be declared in a contains statement (using the required name in a bold font) on retail products.
- Allergens must be declared in bold within the ingredients list using the required name on retail products.
For more information visit: www.mpi.govt.nz/food-business/labelling-composition-food-drinks/allergen-declarations-warnings-and-advisory-statements-on-food-labels
The New Allergens Code:
- peanuts
- almonds
- Brazil nuts
- cashews
- hazelnuts
- macadamias
- pecans
- pine nuts
- pistachios
- walnuts
- crustacea
- molluscs
- fish
- milk
- egg
- gluten (that is found in wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, and triticale)
- wheat
- soy
- sesame
- lupin
- sulphites (must be listed if added at 10 (or more) milligrams per kilogram of food)