FoodLegal

By Jenny Awad (FoodLegal Co-Principal)

© Lawmedia Pty Ltd, April 2026

On 1 April 2026 Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) approved Proposal P1056. Once the changes are approved by food Ministers, the new requirements will become mandatory. The changes will have a significant impact on how caffeine is used in food, including caffeine from plant extracts like guarana and green tea. This article explores the changes for sports foods and general foods.

Status of Proposal P1056

In December 2020, Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) initiated Proposal P1056 to review the permissions relating to caffeine in formulated supplementary sports foods (sports foods) and general foods. After three rounds of public consultation, FSANZ approved the amendments to the Australia New Zealand Food Standards Code (Food Standards Code) on 1 April 2026.

Food Ministers will have 60 days to consider FSANZ’s decision and, if no further review is requested, the changes will be gazetted (i.e. the new requirements will become mandatory). There will be a 2-year transition period from gazettal for food businesses to implement the changes.

What does P1056 mean for sports foods?

Under the existing regulatory framework, sports foods are permitted to contain food ingredients that naturally contain caffeine (e.g. coffee, green tea, etc) so long as the total concentration of caffeine is less than 1% for liquids and less than 5% for solids, but are prohibited from containing isolated caffeine.

Once the P1056 changes are gazetted, the following key changes will apply:

-            Sports foods will be expressly permitted to contain caffeine from any source (including isolated), so long as the maximum one-day quantity of caffeine does not exceed 200 mg and the total concentration of caffeine is less than 5% for powders or less than 1% for liquids.

-            If a sports food contains caffeine from any source, prescribed warning and advisory statements must be included on the label (including regarding consumption by breastfeeding women) that go beyond those under the existing regulatory framework.

What does P1056 mean for general foods?

Under the current regulatory framework, most general foods are prohibited from containing isolated caffeine, but are permitted to contain food ingredients that naturally contain caffeine (e.g. coffee, green tea, etc) so long as the total concentration of caffeine is less than 1% for liquids and less than 5% for solids.

Once the P1056 changes are gazetted, the following key changes will apply:

-            General foods will not be permitted to contain caffeine as an ingredient or component from isolated caffeine or plant extracts, including but not limited to guarana extract.

-            Guarana extract will be expressly defined as a product produced from guarana seeds by extraction and contains 5% or more caffeine for solids/semi-solids or 1% or more caffeine for liquids.

-            General foods will still be permitted to contain naturally occurring caffeine from other traditional foods ingredients such as cocoa, chocolate, coffee or tea.

-            New mandatory warning and advisory statements will apply to high caffeine coffee beverages (being coffee beverages that contain 200 mg or more caffeine per serving).

P1056 will not change the caffeine permissions in cola-type beverages and formulated caffeinated beverages (energy drinks).

How FoodLegal can help you prepare for the changes

We can review your existing portfolio and new product development pipeline to identify the extent and type of changes that will need to be implemented. We can also run internal training for your team to give you the tools to conduct this type of review internally.

This is general information rather than legal advice and is current as of 13 Apr 2026. We recommend you seek legal advice for your specific circumstances before making any commercial decisions.