Added sugar labelling on NIP, new standard coming

Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) is beginning work on amending the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (the Food Standards Code) regarding the labelling of added sugars on nutritional information panels.

This follows the release of findings last year in its Review of nutrition labelling for added sugars. The review was undertaken at the request of food ministers with the aim of ensuring food labels provide adequate contextual information about sugars to enable consumers to make informed choices in support of dietary guidelines.

Three options were considered by FSANZ in the review:

1. Quantifying added sugars in the nutrition information panel (NIP).
2. Applying a pictorial about sugar to sugary beverages/sugar-sweetened beverages.
3. Changing the statement of ingredients to identify sugars-based ingredients.

Option one was preferred by ministers, and in the end, the review argued that while the process of labelling foods based on their added sugars would be complex, there were no technical reasons to not include these sugars on the NIP.

More details are expected to follow early this year from FSANZ about the amendment to the Food Standards Code.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Milan