Nutrition Panel Exemptions NZ: Check the Food, Pack and Claim

A small label, a simple recipe or a product sold by another business without a panel does not settle your own nutrition information requirements. The useful starting question is which rule applies to this food, package and sales arrangement.

This guide helps New Zealand food brands, manufacturers and importers organise that decision for ordinary retail foods. It separates three routes that are often confused: food not required to bear a full label, a listed nutrition-panel food exemption, and the small-package provisions. Infant formula and other special-purpose foods, and alcohol-specific energy labelling, need their own assessment.

Start with the sales and labelling route

Under Standard 1.2.1 on labels and other information, ordinary packaged retail food generally needs a label, with defined exceptions. Food made and packaged at the premises from which it is sold is one example; unpackaged food follows another route. The precise conditions matter. Supplying a product to a separate retailer is not the same sales arrangement as selling it from the premises where it was made and packaged.

Write down where the food is made, where it is packaged and how the final consumer buys it. Include any separate retail, market, online or wholesale arrangements in the brief. Do not assume one conclusion covers every channel or every future pack size.

Food not required to bear a label can still have information duties. Section 1.2.1—9 addresses those duties. If a claim requiring nutrition information is made, the applicable panel information must be displayed with the food or provided on request through that route. Relevant allergen declarations and other information also remain subject to their own requirements.

This first check concerns how information reaches the purchaser. It does not establish that a packaged food belongs to a nutrition exemption category. For the wider pack checklist, use our New Zealand food labelling requirements guide.

Check the exact food exemption

Section 1.2.8—5 of Standard 1.2.8 on nutrition information lists foods for which a nutrition information panel is not required unless a claim requiring nutrition information is made. Examples include herbs and spices, tea and coffee, vinegar, specified salts, water or ice, and prepared filled rolls and sandwiches. The full list and the actual product description control the decision.

A product name is not enough. Obtain the complete formulation and establish what is being sold. A plain herb and a prepared meal containing that herb are different foods. Similarly, do not apply a plain-water example automatically to a formulated drink containing additional ingredients.

The fruit, vegetable, meat, poultry and fish entry has a single-ingredient or category-of-ingredients condition. Read that wording and the Code definitions rather than treating every food containing a vegetable or meat ingredient as exempt. Check any separate product-specific provisions too.

The decision table below is a recommended review aid. Its examples show which route needs checking; they are not an assessment of an actual product or a complete list of exemptions.

On a small screen, swipe sideways to view all columns. Keyboard users can focus the table region and scroll horizontally.

Assess a small package separately

The Code defines a small package as one with a surface area of less than 100 cm². The relevant definition is in Standard 1.1.2. This is a package-area test, not a test of the sticker area, front panel, net weight or available design space. Exactly 100 cm² is not less than 100 cm².

Obtain the dimensions and identify the package being assessed. Keep the measurement or packaging specification with the decision. For unusual shapes, several layers or individually sold units, resolve which package and information provisions apply instead of choosing the most convenient measurement.

Section 1.2.8—5(2)(b) excludes food for infants from its small-package panel exemption. Infant formula is separately governed by its specific standard. Do not apply the ordinary small-snack decision to either category.

For a qualifying small package with a claim requiring nutrition information, section 1.2.8—14 specifies information that must be supplied. It includes the serving quantity and relevant particulars under Schedule 13, with additional provisions for certain carbohydrate-related claims. The section expressly allows that information to be presented without the standard NIP format.

For example, a proposed fibre claim can require energy, carbohydrate, sugars and fibre information per serving under Schedule 13 for small-package nutrition information, not merely the fibre number used in the claim. The claim itself also needs to meet the applicable conditions. This example supplies neither a permitted claim wording nor a finished label.

Review claims before deciding

Collect the exact proposed wording and complete artwork before recording an exemption. Include product names, promotional statements and relevant representations within the agreed review scope. A late marketing addition can change a conclusion reached on an earlier proof.

The Code term “claim requiring nutrition information” generally covers nutrition content and health claims, with defined exclusions. It is more precise than saying that every positive statement on a pack triggers a panel. Assess the actual words and presentation; do not decide from the marketing team’s informal label for the claim.

Check claim eligibility and information requirements as separate questions. Having nutrition numbers does not establish that a claim is permitted. Conversely, deciding not to make a claim does not create an exemption for an ordinary packaged food that otherwise requires a panel.

A voluntary panel also needs care: Standard 1.2.8 notes that nutrition information provided voluntarily in a panel is a nutrition content claim. Do not assume a copied or partly completed voluntary panel avoids review.

Keep a product-specific decision record

We recommend a short decision sheet with the following fields. It is an internal review tool, not a prescribed MPI form or official approval.

• Product and version: food name, full formulation reference, pack size and artwork revision.
• Sales arrangement: where the food is made, packaged and sold, and the channels being assessed.
• Proposed route: exact Code provision and the facts supporting each condition.
• Package evidence: dimensions and area basis where the small-package route is relevant.
• Claims: the wording reviewed, its assessment and the nutrition information it requires.
• Outcome and limits: panel required, specified information required, or the supported exemption; list unresolved questions and remaining label duties.
• Review ownership: who assessed the decision, when, and what change would reopen it.

If a panel is needed, organise the evidence behind the values as a separate task. Our nutrition analysis brief guide addresses laboratory handover when analysis is being considered. It does not mean every panel requires new testing.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Treating a short ingredients list as a nutrition-panel exemption.
• Measuring only the printable label instead of assessing the package surface area.
• Assuming a claim always requires a full standard NIP, including on qualifying small packages.
• Keeping an exemption decision after changing the food, sales channel, pack or claims without reviewing its effect.
• Removing other mandatory information because a nutrition panel is not required.

Frequently asked questions

Does making food at home remove the need for a panel?

Home production alone does not answer the question. Check the actual making, packaging and sales arrangement, the finished food, package and claims against the relevant provisions.

Is a small retail pack exempt from all labelling?

No. The small-package nutrition provision concerns nutrition information. Other applicable food identification, allergen, date, storage and information duties need separate assessment.

Can I use another brand’s exemption decision?

Use your own product facts. A similar-looking pack can differ in formulation, dimensions, claims, category or sales arrangement. Those differences can change the result.

What if the decision is still uncertain before printing?

Keep the question open and obtain the missing facts or appropriate product-specific advice. Do not describe an unresolved assumption as an exemption. Identify the affected artwork so the uncertainty is not lost between revisions.

Practical nutrition label-review support

AFVA’s food labelling review service includes nutrition panels, servings information and marketing claims. Send the formulation, pack dimensions, sales arrangements, complete artwork and the exact exemption question you want reviewed. A focused brief helps define what can be assessed and what still needs evidence.

AFVA provides consulting comments and practical recommendations, not official label approval. The food business remains responsible for the final label. Any external laboratory analysis, recognised verification or other formal assessment is a separate service with its own scope and independence requirements.

Official sources and review date

Current official material checked on 1 November 2026. Use the applicable current Code and any product-specific requirements for the actual decision.

• Standard 1.2.1: retail labelling routes and other information
• Standard 1.2.8: panel exemptions and small-package provisions
• Standard 1.1.2: definitions, including small package and claims
• Schedule 13: claim-related nutrition information for small packages
• FSANZ: nutrition information panel overview

General information only: Requirements depend on the complete food activities, products, processes, locations and sales model. Use current official guidance and confirm the requirements applying to the specific business before relying on a classification, timeframe or record list.