A three-year transition period on the new standards came to an end on January 18, targeting health and nutrition claims processors are able to make.
The standards aim to drive greater clarity and fact into claims, requiring scientific and trial data to substantiate the claims.
“Nutrient” health claims relate to claims about levels of certain nutrients in the food, for example “good calcium source” or “low in fat”.
The new standard requires these claims to meet levels it lays out, and exceed them to validate statements such as stating a certain food is a “good” source of a substance.
The “health” claims for the standard are now split into two areas – “general level” health claims and “high” -level claims.
General claims cannot refer to a serious disease, or biomarker for a serious disease. A company will be only able to make “general” claims if it can base them off 200 pre-approved claims in the new standard, or prove them through a notification process.
The “high” -level claims refer to a link between a substance in a food and a serious disease, such as claiming eating a certain food reduces the risk of heart disease. These will also have to meet a pre-approved standard where the link is made.
At present there are 13 pre-approved high-level claims accepted by FSANZ. This includes claims that lower-salt content reduces blood pressure.
Food and Grocery Council chief executive Katherine Rich welcomes the well-signalled changes.
She said the standards provided greater freedom for producers with claims about their products, compared to the earlier regime that prohibited almost any claims being made.
“For example, to say an apple was healthy was technically not allowed. Now you can make that claim but you also have to be able to back that up scientifically.”
She expected the standards to instil greater confidence in consumers making choices based on claims.
They would know either that science existed for certain product claims under the new standards, or the company had undertaken the science to make the claim for a product not already on the standard’s list.
A Ministry for Primary Industries spokeswoman confirmed businesses can also choose to make self-substantiated claims under the standard.
“Businesses who choose to do this need to notify FSANZ and ensure their specific claim is supported by robust scientific evidence that the food carrying the health claim has a proven health effect.
“This requires a dossier of evidence, including a systematic review compiled to the requirements set out in the standard.”
Rich was optimistic the new standard conditions that allowed a company to conduct research and present it to back its claims. It would encourage a growing innovative, value-added food sector.
“Who knows what properties may still be discovered in things like kiwifruit and honey.”
She expected the changes would not be overly onerous on processors but that some imported products may get tripped-up by the new standard.
“I saw dates on the supermarket shelf the other day and the packet was making many claims about their health giving properties, including easier childbirth.
“That would not pass under these standards.”
The standards apply in NZ and Australia, with MPI tasked with reinforcing them from NZ.
