Food Label Printing & Australian Labelling Compliance

A food label carries two jobs at once. It has to sell the product and it has to satisfy the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code, which sets out what must appear, how legible it must be and, since February 2024, exactly which words an allergen may be declared under. Getting one right and the other wrong is still a recall risk.

Digital Label Services has more than 30 years of packaging industry experience and covers both sides of food label printing: finished printed labels, and the colour label printers, presses, label stock and consumables that let a manufacturer print in-house. This page sets out what Australian food labelling requires, then how those requirements shape the material and the print method.

What information must appear on an Australian food label?

Standard 1.2.1 of the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code sets the base list. Section 1.2.1-8 names the information a label must carry, and most packaged food sold at retail needs all of it unless a specific exemption applies. The detailed rules then sit in their own standards, which is why an ingredient panel and a nutrition panel are drafted under different provisions.

Legibility is a requirement in its own right, not a design preference. Section 1.2.1-24 sets the general legibility rule and section 1.2.1-25 sets a stricter one for warning statements. FSANZ writes the standards but does not enforce them. That sits with state and territory food authorities, which is who contacts you when a panel is unreadable at the printed size.

Section 1.2.1-8 requires:

• Name of the food
• Lot identification
• Name and address of the supplier
• Advisory and warning statements
• Ingredient statement
• Date marking
• Storage conditions and directions for use
• Nutrition information
• Country of origin

How did Plain English Allergen Labelling change ingredient panels?

The Plain English Allergen Labelling requirements, made under Proposal P1044, became compulsory on 25 February 2024 at the end of a three-year transition. The change forced allergens to be named in specific, ordinary words rather than technical ingredient names, so a shopper reading a panel does not need to know the chemistry to spot the risk.

That reworded a great deal of existing artwork. Casein and whey must now be declared as Milk. Semolina must be declared as Wheat. If an ingredient panel has not been reviewed since the transition closed, it is the first thing to check before committing to another print run. FSANZ has published a summary of what changed.

Where do allergen declarations have to appear?

In two places, not one. Each allergen must be declared in bold within the ingredient list, and again in a bolded summary statement that begins with the word Contains. A panel carrying only one of the two is incomplete, and this is one of the most common findings on artwork drawn up before the transition.

Two details catch producers out. Tree nuts and molluscs must be declared individually rather than as a group, so cashew and macadamia are named separately. Added sulphites must be declared when present at 10 mg/kg or more, which brings in dried fruit, a range of sauces, and a large share of beverages that would not otherwise carry an allergen statement.

When is a nutrition information panel mandatory?

Most packaged food needs one, and any nutrition content or health claim triggers the requirement outright. Make a claim about protein, fibre or sugar content and you have committed to a panel, even in cases where an exemption might otherwise have been available.

The panel declares seven things: energy in kilojoules, protein, total fat, saturated fat, carbohydrate, sugars and sodium. Those values are presented in two columns, one per serving and one per 100 g or 100 mL. Setting the columns and rule lines so they stay legible at the printed size is a typesetting job as much as a compliance one. FSANZ sets out the panel format.

Where does the Health Star Rating fit?

The Health Star Rating is separate and voluntary, and there is no fee to use it. Ratings run from half a star to five stars in half-star increments, calculated across six categories that cover different food types, scoring energy, saturated fat, sodium and total sugars and offsetting protein, fibre and fruit, vegetable, nut and legume content. The graphic may be scaled provided it stays legible, so it is sized to suit the pack rather than fixed to a set dimension.

Which foods need the country of origin standard mark?

The Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016 divides food into priority and non-priority. Priority foods carry the full three-part standard mark: the kangaroo-in-a-triangle symbol, a bar chart showing the minimum proportion of Australian ingredients by ingoing weight, and a text statement.

Non-priority foods need a text statement only, and that category includes confectionery, tea and coffee, biscuits, bottled water, soft drinks and alcohol. Because the bar chart percentage is calculated on ingoing weight, a recipe or supplier change can move it, and a moved percentage means new artwork. Frequent changes of that kind are the strongest practical argument for digital label printing over plate-based methods.

How small can the weight or volume marking be?

Trade measurement marking is governed separately from the food standards, and the National Measurement Institute sets minimum character heights against the package’s maximum dimension. Undersize characters are a routine finding on sachets, small tubs and sleeve-wrapped packs where the designer has squeezed the panel to fit the artwork.

Placement matters as well. The measurement marking belongs on the main display panel, and on cylindrical, spherical, oval or conical containers it must sit wholly within a 60-degree arc either side of the vertical centre line. The packer’s name and Australian street address are also required, and a PO box or an email address is not accepted in place of one. The NMI guide to the sale of pre-packaged goods covers both points.

Minimum character heights for measurement marking, by package maximum dimension:

• Up to 120 mm: 2 mm
• Over 120 mm up to 230 mm: 2.5 mm
• Over 230 mm up to 360 mm: 3.3 mm
• Over 360 mm: 4.8 mm
• Stamped or embossed characters: at least three times the printed size

Which materials suit chilled, frozen and wash-off applications?

The failure is almost never the print. It is an adhesive asked to bond to a surface it was not chosen for, at a temperature it was not rated for. A label applied warm to a dry carton and a label applied to a damp, chilled HDPE tub are two different specifications even when the artwork is identical.

Frozen work splits again, between labels applied at ambient and frozen down afterwards, and labels applied directly to product already at temperature, which needs a freezer-grade adhesive. Wash-off adhesives matter to anyone reusing crates, tubs or returnable containers, where residue becomes a cleaning cost rather than a print one. We supply printed product labels and the label stock behind them, so the construction can be settled before the artwork is locked.

How does digital printing handle short runs and frequent changes?

Food producers rarely have one label. They have a range, and each SKU carries its own ingredient panel, its own nutrition figures and its own date and batch code. Plate-based printing punishes that, because every version carries a setup cost before a single usable label comes off the press.

Digital does not. Low volume runs start at a single label and run to 1,000, medium volume runs from 1,000 labels can be produced without printing plates, with production stated at within seven working days, and high volume begins at 10,000. Variable data, sequential batch numbers and date coding can be applied within the run rather than overprinted later. For producers printing on site we supply colour label printers from entry-level QuickLabel units through Epson ColorWorks to TrojanLabel presses, with genuine consumables and technical support behind them.

Who is responsible for making sure a food label complies?

The food business is. Digital Label Services supplies labels, label stock, printers and consumables, and does not certify, approve or sign off the compliance of your artwork or your content. Ingredient declarations, nutrition figures, allergen statements and origin claims are the supplier’s responsibility, and specific requirements should be confirmed with FSANZ and the relevant state or territory food authority.

What we contribute is the physical label. That means advising on facestock, adhesive, ink and finish for the application, checking that panels stay legible at the printed size, and supplying food label printing that holds its quality through the supply chain. Delivery runs from Green Point across the Central Coast and into the metropolitan area, and the label printing sydney page sets out the precincts we supply.

Which label construction suits which food environment?

A starting point for matching facestock, adhesive and print method to the conditions the label has to survive.

Label materials, adhesives, inks and finishes should be selected according to the intended application and relevant Australian requirements. Discuss specific technical or regulatory requirements with Digital Label Services before production.

Frequently asked questions

Further reading

• Australian Food Labelling Requirements: A 2026 Compliance Checklist
• Label Printing for Sydney Food Manufacturers: A Practical Guide
• Choosing Label Sizes and Shapes: A Guide for New Product Launches

References and further reading

• Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code – Standard 1.2.1 – Requirements to have labels or otherwise provide information — Federal Register of Legislation. the required label information and the legibility provisions
• Allergen labelling for consumers — FSANZ. bold declarations, the Contains statement and the sulphite threshold
• Plain English Allergen Labelling: one year of clearer, safer food labels — FSANZ. the 25 February 2024 compliance date and the required allergen names
• Country of origin food labelling — ACCC. priority foods, the three-part standard mark and text-only statements