Allergen declarations, warnings, and advisory statements on food labels

Food labels must tell consumers about the risks of some ingredients to some groups of people, such as pregnant women and people with food allergies. Find out what to put on your label if your food or drink contains certain ingredients.

Update – February 2024

The rules for declaring allergens in food have changed. Food businesses had until 24 February 2024 to make the changes to their labels and update staff so that they can give consumers the most up-to-date information. The new rules will make food allergen declarations clearer and more consistent for consumers. Any food packaged and labelled before the 25 February 2024, under the existing rules, may be sold for a further 2 years.

Find out more about plain English allergen labelling

Allergy statements on food labels

Some ingredients need to be avoided by certain people, such as people with food allergies and pregnant women. Some consumers also need to know some information about the food so they don't get sick.

There are 3 main statements that need to be included on a food label:

• Allergen declaration: Allergies to some food proteins (allergens) can be life-threatening. They must be listed on the food label if the food contains them, or if they were used when making the product.
• Warning statement: Only applies to some food. You must use the exact format and words outlined in the food standards code.
• Advisory statement: Must be provided for certain foods or ingredients which may cause health risks for some consumers.

Food allergens that need to be declared on your label

If your food or drink contains a common allergen or ingredient sourced from it, you must state this clearly on your label. The allergens that must be declared are:

• peanuts
• almonds
• Brazil nuts
• cashews
• hazelnuts
• macadamias
• pecans
• pine nuts
• pistachios
• walnuts
• crustacean
• molluscs
• fish
• milk
• egg
• wheat
• soy
• sesame
• lupin.

Gluten (that is found in wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelt, and triticale) must also be listed on labels.

Added sulphites must be listed when above 10mg/kg in food.

To find out more about the rules for declaring allergens, download our guide.

Food that needs a warning statement

You must include a warning statement if your food or drink is or contains:

• royal jelly
• kava
• infant formula products or infant foods
• a formulated supplementary sports food.

The statement must be in writing at least 3 mm in height or 1.5 mm in height on a small package (under 100 square cm).

For example, for royal jelly:

"This product contains royal jelly which has been reported to cause severe allergic reactions and in rare cases, fatalities, especially in asthma and allergy sufferers."

Food that requires an advisory statement

You need to put an advisory statement on your label if your food is or contains:

• bee pollen and propolis
• milk or milk substitutes made from cereal, nuts, or seeds
• unpasteurised egg products
• quinine
• guarana or caffeine
• unpasteurised milk products
• additives known to have a laxative effect, for example, lactitol, maltitol, maltitol syrup, xylitol, mannitol, sorbitol, erythritol, isomalt and polydextrose
• aspartame or aspartame-acesulphame salt
• phytosterols, phytostanols or their esters.

There are no set words for advisory statements. You can choose your own words and the font size, so long as it's readable.

"Free from" statements

If you want to claim your product is "free from" an allergen (or similar words, such as "contains no nuts"), you must make sure it is true and not misleading. You must be able to prove allergen-free statements.

Extra rules for gluten-free statements on labels

Gluten-free means the food has:

• no detectable gluten
• no oats or oat products, or
• no cereals containing gluten that have been malted, or products of such cereals.

"Gluten free" is a nutrition content claim. The extra rules on nutrition content claims apply to gluten-free products.

Who to contact

If you have questions about allergen labelling, email info@mpi.govt.nz