Label Buster is a handy and straightforward step-by-step guide to help SME businesses develop food labels

Label Buster is an incredibly helpful step-by-step guide designed to help small to medium food businesses meet labelling requirements. The Australia and New Zealand Food Standards Code (known commonly as the Code) sets labelling standards for food sold in or imported into Australia and New Zealand. The Label Buster online guidelines were published by QLD Health and helps navigate and identify what information needs to be on a food label in compliance with Code requirements.

There can be significant penalties for non-compliant labels, and it can be daunting for smaller business to get labelling done correctly. The online tool aims to simplify the whole process and contains lists with pre-populated options and is written in plain, straightforward English throughout. 

It is designed to help those with little to no knowledge of either the Code or labelling requirements. The process for creating an approved label will take a new user, such as a small food business owner, about two hours to complete. At the end of this process, they will have a product sheet that contains all the information needed for a Code-compliant label, including other specific requirements such as font sizes for warning statements.

The national food standards body (FSANZ) provides information that helps consumers read and understand food labels, so everything needs to be standardised. The Label Buster tool ensures that labels provide all the informational and layout requirements demanded by both regulatory bodies – the Code and FSANZ.

The guidelines presented in the tool are broken down into sections so users can easily navigate to information relevant to them. For example, there are parts specifically dealing with food for retail sale, food for catering purposes, and sale of other food (wholesale). Tables are included that help with specifics, such as if a product contains royal jelly, uses gene technology, or contains offal. There are also requirements to be met if the product makes certain claims such as being ‘lean’, ‘low fat’, or ‘a source of calcium’.

Other sections of the Label Buster guidelines deal with food identification and descriptions of the processes undergone, such as fermentation, roasting, or smoking. The Code also has, understandably, stringent requirements on warning labels and mandatory advisory statements, depending on ingredients. These ingredients can be as varied as containing milk, guarana extract, or pollen, and each comes with a required advisory statement.

The online tool also specifies how to write or describe the more common items people expect on a label. Things like acceptable names for ingredients and the order they are to be listed, and rules relating to compound and alternative ingredients. There’s also guidance on additional labels that might be needed, such as the Nutrition Information Panel (NIP) or country of origin requirements.

As well as ingredients and warnings, the Code has detailed rules on how to write things like dates, storage requirements and endorsements. It includes a guide to using ‘Use by’, ‘Best before’ or more specific terms like ‘Baked on’ or Baked for’. 

Food labelling in Australia is strictly regulated and enforced to ensure maximum food safety. Incorrect labelling can result in stiff penalties, so it is essential that small and medium food businesses follow all the procedures and understand the requirements. This can be incredibly daunting to those with little experience, but guides like the Label Buster online are specifically designed to make the process easier and ensure compliance. 

You can find the Label Buster online guidelines here.