Allergies and intolerances
Allergen and additive labelling and declarations
Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) sets standards for labelling of products containing food allergens, gluten and sulphite preservatives. Any product containing allergens specified in the Standard must be either:
- declared on a label on packaged food, or
- declared on, or in connection with, the display of food that is not required to be labelled, or
- declared to the customer at the time of purchase if they ask.
For more information on allergen labelling requirements refer to the FSANZ website: www.foodstandards.gov.au.
The NSW Food Authority makes sure food labels comply with national standards so consumers are provided with accurate information about the food they buy.
Consumers should contact the Authority if they suspect a food label does not adhere to the FSANZ guidelines.
Education and training for the food service industry
Be prepared beallergy aware
Click to download
(pdf, 1.26MB)
The booklet Be prepared, be allergy aware (pdf, 1.26MB), produced by the Authority and Anaphylaxis Australia, outlines requirements for food service businesses relating to declaring and managing allergens.
The Australian Food and Grocery Council has a great deal of information for businesses that package or serve food/food products that contain or may contain allergens.
The Food Safety Centre Allergen Bureau is another worthwhile site to visit.
General information
The NSW Department of Education and Training has developed guidelines for schools to assist in the management of children with allergies. The guidelines include forms for doctors/parents, action plans and Epi-Pen™ instructions.
Related sites
- FSANZ Food Labelling Fact Sheet
food labelling rules under the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code - FSANZ research
2003 Quantitative consumer survey on Allergen labelling conducted by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) - Food Recalls Alerts
current food recalls listed on the FSANZ website - Food labelling
explanation on reading food labels on the FASANZ website - ASCIA: The Australasian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA)
website provides a list of allergy and clinical immunologists in Australia and New Zealand and resources for sufferers of anaphylaxis, educators and allied health professionals. - Health Insite
links to information about food hypersensitivities and allergies - Anaphylaxis Australia
a comprehensive website containing information on anaphylaxis for sufferers, the food industry, educators and health professionals - Coeliac Society
The Coeliac Society of Australia’s website provides information on coeliac disease, symptoms and diet - NSW Health
information on allergies and anaphylaxis. Provides details of NSW Anaphylaxis Educators and Anaphylaxis Guidelines for schools
Also on this site
- Be prepared, be allergy aware (pdf, 1.3MB)
- Allergy postcard: What you should know (pdf, 490KB)
- Allergies
- Consumer brochure: Food allergy and intolerance (pdf, 393KB)
- Allergy and intolerance: other languages
- Allergy questions and answers
- Ingredient labelling what to look for on food labels (video, 6.22 MB)
- MSG
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