New food labelling standards come into force

New food labelling standards designed to protect customers with severe allergies come into force today.

New Zealand Food Safety deputy director-general Vincent Arbuckle said they had worked with Food Standards Australia New Zealand to ensure all food packaged from here on was in plain English.

Any potentially life-threatening common allergens must be in bold in the ingredients list, and manufacturers would also have to be more specific about the types of nuts present in their food.

Some 8 percent of New Zealanders had a food allergy, and some of those were life-threatening, Arbuckle said.

Side effects ranged from swelling, hives and vomiting to anaphylaxis.

Food packaged before today could still be sold without new labels for the next two years or until it expired.

• First published by RNZ