5. Claim Requirements

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Dietary Supplements
New Zealand

This section provides information on the definition of different types of claims and any restrictions or allowance of claims as well as claim registration processes.

5.1 Overview of Claims

5.1.1 Types & Definitions

Please refer to section 5.1.1 of the "General Foods" guidebook for New Zealand.

5.1.2 List of Prohibited Claims

Dietary Supplements cannot have therapeutic claims, under clause 11 of the Regulations [1]: "... no dietary supplement or package or container containing a dietary supplement shall be advertised or labeled with a statement relating to any of the following matters:

treating or preventing disease;
diagnosing disease or ascertaining the existence, degree, or extent of a physiological condition;
altering the shape, structure, size, or weight of the human body;
otherwise preventing or interfering with the normal operation of a physiological function, whether permanently or temporarily, and whether by way of terminating or reducing or postponing, or increasing or accelerating, the operation of that function, or in any other way."

If a Dietary Supplement is promoted with therapeutic claims, then it needs to be regulated as a medicine.

5.2 Nutritional Claims

Please refer to section 5.2.1 of the "General Foods" Guidebook for New Zealand.

5.3 Health Claims

5.3.1 Permitted Claims

There is no positive list of claims. Any statements must be true and not misleading. They need not be therapeutic in nature as these are only permitted for medicines.

Some examples of permitted claims:

Supports immune health
Supports calm mood
Supports stress and nervous tension
Healthy joints and bones
Joint health - joint mobility and comfort
Supports healthy liver and aids digestion
Supports healthy metabolism
Supports healthy sleeping habits
Supports mental focus and cognition
Supports energy production
For general health and wellbeing
Supports physical and mental performance

Note that all claims shall make no reference to words such as treat, cure, prevent, and no named diseases/conditions.

Health benefit claims

Even though Dietary Supplements are not currently regulated as medicines in New Zealand, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has a code that covers medicines and health products such as Dietary Supplements under a therapeutic advertising code [2]. The code states:

‘Health Benefit’ means any one of the following benefits:

Maintenance or promotion of health or wellness
Nutritional support
Vitamin or mineral supplementation
Maintaining the normal structure or function of the body

Health Benefit claims in advertisements for Natural Health Products and Dietary Supplements must be supported by scientific or traditional substantiation. Only products that meet the definition in this Code of a Natural Health Product or Dietary Supplement may claim a health benefit in advertisements*.

*While the Code covers all words and visual depictions in all advertising modes, it does not apply to labels or packaging. However, when a label or packaging appears in an advertisement, it forms part of the advertisement and therefore any visible aspects are covered by this Code.

The code also includes the following mandatory information to be reflected in advertisements for Natural Health Products and Dietary Supplements:

Name and address of the advertiser
Advice to "Always read the label and use as directed"
For products that contain vitamins and/or minerals, the following additional statement (or words to this effect): "Vitamins and minerals are supplementary to and not a replacement for a balanced diet."
For products that may be used for a short time, after which the consumer should seek medical advice, the following additional statement (or words to this effect): "If symptoms persist, see your healthcare professional."

Note that the above label messages align with the Australian Listed Complementary Medicines label statements.

Evidence for claims

In the absence of a mandatory standard for evidence to support claims, it would be reasonable to apply either the requirements set out under Standard 1.2.7 of the FSC [3] or the TGA evidence guidelines for Listed Medicines [4]. The wording of the New Zealand Advertising Standards Authority Code [2] in relation to types of claims and evidence is very much in line with the TGA system for listed medicines.

5.3.2 Health Claim Registration

There is no mandatory health claim registration for dietary supplements. Please refer to section 5.3.2 of the "General Foods" guidebook for New Zealand.

Additionally, New Zealand has a voluntary advertising clearance service called TAPs (Therapeutic Advertising Pre-vetting Service) which will review product claims in line with the ASA Code [5]. Many Dietary Supplements companies use this service and will quote the TAPs' approval on their websites in individual product promotions [6]. Fees are:

ANZA Member Companies - NZ $80 per 15 minutes of Adjudicator time + GST (15%)
Non-ANZA Member Companies - NZ $120 per 15 minutes of Adjudicator time + GST (15%)