On 10 March 2026, the Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) Board approved Proposal P1056, amending the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code to prohibit the retail sale of caffeine as a food and to restrict the addition of caffeine to foods. Australian food ministers declined to review the decision, and the variation was gazetted on 9 June 2026 as Amendment No. 250 (Food Standards Code FSC 190). Food businesses now have a two-year transition, ending 9 June 2028, to reformulate products and overhaul labels.
The amendments respond to public health concerns about excessive caffeine intake among vulnerable populations and replace the emergency interim rules imposed under Urgent Proposal P1054 in December 2019 with a permanent framework. They target added caffeine and concentrated caffeine sources, not the naturally occurring caffeine in tea and coffee. FSANZ assessed the proposal under its general procedure across three rounds of public consultation, the final one running from 31 October 2025 to 12 December 2025.
What does P1056 prohibit and restrict?
The Code now explicitly prohibits the retail sale of caffeine as a food. Caffeine from all sources is no longer permitted as an added ingredient in foods for retail sale unless specifically allowed elsewhere in the Code. The retail sale of guarana extract with high caffeine concentrations is also restricted, closing a route through which highly concentrated caffeine was sold as a food. These restrictions are set out in the official P1056 proposal page and the FSANZ approval report.
Who is impacted, and what labelling changes apply?
The changes bite manufacturers of packaged coffee beverages, sports nutrition products, and any brand that adds caffeine to foods. Packaged coffee beverages with high caffeine levels must now declare caffeine content per serve in the nutrition information panel and carry an advisory statement that the product is not suitable for children under 15 years, or for pregnant or breastfeeding women.
For formulated supplementary sports foods (FSSF), caffeine remains permitted within defined limits, including a maximum one-day quantity of 200 mg. New warning and advisory labelling applies, alongside packaging requirements for certain FSSF sold in a multipack. Sports nutrition brands should treat the 200 mg ceiling and the new advisory statements as the binding design constraints for reformulation.
What is the compliance deadline ladder?
The transition runs from gazettal on 9 June 2026 to 9 June 2028. Until P1056 took effect, the interim P1054 prohibition, in force since 12 December 2019, applied, barring the retail sale of foods with total caffeine at or above 5 percent for solids and semi-solids, or 1 percent for liquids. P1056 supersedes that emergency rule with a permanent standard.
| Milestone | Date |
|---|---|
| FSANZ Board approval | 10 March 2026 |
| Ministers decline review | 1 May 2026 |
| Gazettal (Amendment No. 250) | 9 June 2026 |
| Transition ends, full compliance | 9 June 2028 |
What stays unchanged under the new rules?
Existing permissions for caffeine in energy drinks and cola drinks remain unchanged, so standard energy and cola formulations are unaffected. Ingredients containing caffeine by natural occurrence, such as coffee or tea, can still be added to food, unless they qualify as an unapproved novel food under the Code. The novel food pre-market assessment pathway continues to apply independently.
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Compliance leads should now confirm whether any product in their portfolio adds caffeine or sells caffeine as a food, audit packaged coffee beverage labels against the new per-serve disclosure and advisory statement, and verify FSSF formulations against the 200 mg one-day limit and multipack packaging rules before the 9 June 2028 deadline.
