Standard 2.9.2 Food for infants

Note 1 This instrument is a standard under the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 (Cth). The standards together make up the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code. See also section 1.1.1—3.

Note 2 The provisions of the Code that apply in New Zealand are incorporated in, or adopted under, the Food Act 2014 (NZ). See also section 1.1.1—3.

This Standard is Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code – Standard 2.9.2 – Food for infants.

Note Commencement:
This Standard commences on 1 March 2016, being the date specified as the commencement date in notices in the Gazette and the New Zealand Gazette under section 92 of the Food Standards Australia New Zealand Act 1991 (Cth). See also section 93 of that Act.

2.9.2—2 Definitions

Note In this Code (see section 1.1.2—3):

cereal-based food for infants means a food for infants, not including a beverage, that is based on cereal.

food for infants:

(a) means a food that is intended or represented for use as a source of nourishment for infants; and

(b) does not include:

(i) infant formula products; or

(ii) formulated meal replacements; or

(iii) formulated supplementary foods; or

(iv) unprocessed fruit and vegetables.

fruit-based food means food that is based on fruit.

2.9.2—3 Food for infants—general compositional requirements

(1) Food for infants must not contain:

(a) for a cereal-based food for infants—more than 50 mg/100 g of total iron on a moisture free basis; or

(b) honey, unless it has been treated to inactivate Clostridium botulinum spores; or

(i) for rusks—350 mg/100 g;

(ii) for biscuits—300 mg/100 g;

(iii) for any of the following—100 mg/100 g:

(A) flours and pasta;

(B) ready-to-eat foods for infants (including cereal-based foods for infants other than rusks and biscuits);

(d) for fruit drink, vegetable juice or a ready-to-eat fruit-based food—added salt; or

(e) for fruit drink, vegetable juice or a non-alcoholic beverage—a total monosaccharide and disaccharide content of more than 4 g/100 g.

(2) If *inulin-type fructans or *galacto-oligosaccharides are added to food for infants, the total amount of those substances in the food (including the amount added and the amount naturally occurring) must not be greater than 0.8 g/100 g, based on the product as consumed.

(3) Food for infants may contain lactic acid producing microorganisms.

(4) If food for infants is intended for infants under the age of 6 months, it must be formulated and manufactured to a consistency that minimises the risk of choking.

2.9.2—4 Additional compositional requirements for cereal-based food for infants from the age of 6 months

(1) This section applies to cereal-based food for infants that:

(a) contains more than 70% cereal, on a moisture free basis; and

(b) is promoted as suitable for infants from the age of 6 months.

(2) The food must contain at least 20 mg/100 g of iron on a moisture free basis.

(3) The food may contain:

(a) added iron in the following forms:

(i) electrolytic iron; or

(ii) reduced iron; or

(iii) the forms permitted in the table to section S29—7; and

(b) added thiamin, niacin, vitamin B6, vitamin C, folate, magnesium in permitted forms set out in the table to section S29—7; and

2.9.2—5 Additional compositional requirements for cereal-based food for infants from the age of 4 months

(1) This section applies to cereal-based food for infants that:

(a) contains more than 70% cereal, on a moisture free basis; and

(b) is promoted as suitable for infants from the age of 4 months.

(2) The food may contain:

(a) added iron in the following forms:

(i) electrolytic iron; or

(ii) reduced iron; or

(iii) the forms permitted in the table to section S29—7; and

(b) added vitamin C in the forms permitted in the table to section S29—7 to a maximum amount of 90 mg/100 g on a moisture free basis.

2.9.2—6 Additional compositional requirements for non-cereal-based food for infants

(1) This section applies to food for infants other than cereal-based food for infants.

(2) If the food is vegetable juice, fruit drink or fruit gel, it must contain no less than 25 mg/100 g of vitamin C.

(3) If the food is a fruit-based food, it may contain vitamin C or folate or both in the permitted forms set out in the table to section S29—7.

2.9.2—7 Labelling

(1) This section does not apply to packaged water.

(2) The label on a package of food for infants must not include a recommendation, whether express or implied, that the food is suitable for infants under the age of 4 months.

(3) For the labelling provisions, the required information relating to composition is:

(a) a statement indicating the consistency of the food; and

(b) a statement indicating the minimum age, expressed in numbers, of the infants for whom the food is recommended; and

(c) if the food is recommended for infants under the age of 6 months—in association with the statement required by paragraph (b), the *warning statement ‘Not recommended for infants under the age of 4 months’; and

(d) if the monosaccharide and disaccharide content of added sugars and honey is more than 4 g/100 g—the word ‘sweetened’; and

(e) if honey has been used as an ingredient—in association with the word ‘honey’, the word ‘sterilised’.

Note The labelling provisions are set out in Standard 1.2.1.

2.9.2—8 Additional labelling requirements relating to specific nutrients and energy information

(1) For the labelling provisions, the required information relating to composition is:

(a) if a reference is made in the label (including in the name of the food) to milk, eggs, cheese, fish, meat (including poultry), nuts or legumes—the percentage of that ingredient in the food for sale; and

(b) if the food contains more than of 3 g of protein/100 kJ—the *warning statement ‘Not suitable for infants under the age of 6 months’.

Note The labelling provisions are set out in Standard 1.2.1.

(2) A claim must not be made that a food for infants is a source of protein unless at least 12% of the *average energy content of the food is derived from protein.

2.9.2—9 Prohibited representations

(1) A food must not be represented as being the sole or principal source of nutrition for infants.

(2) The label on a package of food for infants must not include a recommendation that the food can be added to bottle feeds of an infant formula product.

2.9.2—10 Claims about vitamins and minerals

(1) A claim must not be made in relation to food for infants comparing the vitamin or mineral content of the food with that of any other food unless such a claim is expressly permitted elsewhere in this Standard.

(2) A claim as to the presence of a vitamin or mineral in a food for infants may be made if the food contains in a normal serving at least 10% *RDI or *ESADDI, as appropriate, for that vitamin or mineral.

Note The RDIs and ESADDIs for vitamins and minerals are set out in Schedule 1.

(3) A claim that food for infants is a good source of a vitamin or mineral may be made if a *reference quantity of the food contains at least 25% *RDI or *ESADDI, as appropriate, for that vitamin or mineral.

Note The RDIs and ESADDIs for vitamins and minerals are set out in Schedule 1.

(4) A claim must not be made in relation to a fruit-based food for infants that the food contains more than:

(a) 60 mg/100 g of vitamin C; or

(b) 150 µg/100 g of folate.

(5) If a vitamin or mineral has been *used as a nutritive substance in a cereal-based food for infants, a claim must not be made that a normal serving of the food contains that vitamin or mineral in an amount greater than that specified in relation to that vitamin or mineral in the table to section S29—11.

2.9.2—11 Nutrition information

(1) Food for infants need not comply with:

(a) the requirement to include the *average quantity of saturated fat on a nutrition information panel (subparagraph 1.2.8—6(1)(d)(ii)); or

(b) subsections 1.2.8—6(3), 1.2.8—6(5) or 1.2.8—7(1); or

(2) Food for infants need not comply with the requirement in Standard 1.2.7 to indicate the potassium content of a food in the nutrition information panel.

(3) The nutrition information panel for food for infants must be set out in the format set out in section S12—6.

2.9.2—12 Food in dehydrated or concentrated form

(1) This section applies to food for infants that is in dehydrated or concentrated form.

(2) For the labelling provisions, directions are required for how the food should be reconstituted.

Note The labelling provisions are set out in Standard 1.2.1.

(3) The particulars set out in each column of the nutrition information panel must be expressed as a proportion of the food as reconstituted according to those directions.

(4) If more than one fluid for preparing the food is nominated in the label:

(a) the particulars set out in the column should be adjusted according to the first liquid nominated; and

(b) the name of this liquid must be included in the nutrition information panel.

2.9.2—13 Storage requirements

For the labelling provisions, the storage instructions must cover the period after the package is opened.

Note The labelling provisions are set out in Standard 1.2.1.

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