Check Your Food Label for Compliance -- Free, in Seconds

Most packaged foods sold in Australia must carry a NIP under Standard 1.2.8 of the Food Standards Code, showing energy, protein, fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugars and sodium per serve and per 100 g (or 100 mL). Some foods are exempt — for example very small packages, food sold unpackaged, or food made and packaged at the point of sale — but the exemption is lost the moment you make a nutrition or health claim, which forces a NIP back on. LabelLens AI will read your panel and flag missing or mis-formatted nutrients for free in seconds.

Under Standard 1.2.3 and Schedule 9, declared allergens must now be named in plain English in a specific, consistent way — both in the ingredient list (bold) and in a separate summary "Contains" statement. Tree nuts and cereals containing gluten must be named individually (e.g. "almond", "wheat") rather than grouped. PEAL became mandatory on 25 February 2024, and the transition period for existing stock ended 25 February 2026 — so it applies to all product on shelf now. LabelLens AI checks your artwork against the PEAL format and the full declarable-allergen list for free.

Country of Origin labelling for most food sold in Australia is governed by the Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016 under Australian Consumer Law, and it's enforced by the ACCC — not FSANZ. Most food for retail sale needs a country-of-origin statement, and priority foods generally need the standard mark with the kangaroo logo and a bar chart showing the proportion of Australian ingredients. LabelLens AI flags a missing or non-compliant CoOL mark as part of its free audit.

Standard 1.2.10 requires you to declare the proportion of a food's "characterising" ingredients — the ones named in the product name or that a customer would expect to define it (for example, the % of strawberry in "strawberry yoghurt", or meat in a meat pie). It's usually shown as a percentage next to that ingredient in the ingredient list. LabelLens AI can spot where a characterising ingredient looks like it's missing its percentage.

Under Standard 1.2.5, "Use By" is a safety date — the food must not be sold or eaten after it, and it's used for foods that become unsafe over time. "Best Before" is a quality date — the food is still legal to sell afterwards if it's still fit and correctly labelled. Foods with a shelf life of two years or more generally don't need a date mark at all, and bread with a short shelf life can be marked "Baked On" or "Baked For". LabelLens AI checks that your date-marking wording matches the format the Code expects.

Nutrition content and health claims are regulated by Standard 1.2.7. Nutrition content claims (like "low fat" or "good source of fibre") have to meet defined criteria, and health claims can only be made if the food meets the Nutrient Profiling Scoring Criterion and the claim is either pre-approved by FSANZ or self-substantiated and notified. General-level claims and high-level claims have different rules. LabelLens AI can flag claim wording that may trigger these requirements so you know where to check.

The Code (Standard 1.2.1) requires label information to be legible, prominent and in clear contrast to the background rather than setting one universal minimum size for all text. Where it is specific: warning statements must be at least 3 mm in height (or 1.5 mm on small packages). LabelLens AI checks legibility and type-size on the elements where the Code sets a hard minimum.

Small packages (a surface area of less than 30 cm²) get some relief: they can skip certain information such as the full NIP, and the minimum type size for warning statements drops to 1.5 mm. But core safety information — like allergen declarations and, where relevant, a use-by date — still has to be there or accessible. LabelLens AI applies the small-package exemptions so it doesn't flag things you're genuinely allowed to leave off.

Most packaged foods sold in Australia must carry a core set of information under the Food Standards Code: the prescribed or true name of the food, a lot or batch code for traceability, the name and an Australian or New Zealand street address of the supplier, a Nutrition Information Panel, a statement of ingredients with allergens declared in PEAL format, date marking (best before or use by), country-of-origin information, and any required warning or advisory statements — all legible, in English and in clear contrast to the background. LabelLens AI checks your artwork for each of these and tells you what's missing.

Yes you need it, and no, a PO box isn't enough. The Food Standards Code requires the name and a physical Australian or New Zealand street address of the supplier — the packer, manufacturer, vendor or importer — so the business can be traced if there's a problem or a recall. A missing or PO-box-only supplier address is one of the most common reasons imported products fail a label check. LabelLens AI flags it as part of its free audit.

For now the Health Star Rating is voluntary — but if you choose to display it, it must be calculated with the official system, because a wrong rating can mislead customers. In February 2026 Australian and New Zealand food ministers agreed to begin making the Health Star Rating mandatory, and FSANZ is now consulting on how and when it will apply — so it's worth getting your labelling in order ahead of the change. LabelLens AI audits the mandatory label elements that sit alongside it, so your core compliance is covered while the rules evolve.