Pre-packed lolly bag mixes from the dairy could be a thing of the past as dairy owners grapple with labelling laws.

Dairy owners are being told ingredients need to be listed on pre-packed lolly mixes.

It has forced Taupo dairy owner Sarah Saunders to get rid of them, and instead have bags with the same kind of lolly in them and one label.

She was told by a local confectionery representative that she now had to label her mixed bags, she said.

So the Rainbow Point Store owner enquired further and found out it was the law and has made changes.

"This is what we have to do, so that's what I'm doing," she said.

But she did not think it was practical.

"You've got a $2 mix with 20 lollies, so you'd need 20 labels on that little bag," she said. "So that's not happening."

The law states that bags need to list the contents' ingredients, but when customers select lollies to put into a mixed bag, there is no legal requirement.

Another dairy owner told Newshub customers will ultimately pay the price, either by getting one less lolly to cover the cost of the label, or the mixed bag could be scrapped altogether.

But the manager of food and beverage at NZ Food Safety said it was nothing new.

"The rules have been in place since 2002, so the rules have been the same for the last 16 years," Sally Johnston said.

Which is why the recent push had puzzled Ms Saunders, who had grown up with lolly mixes.

"It's always a little treat for the kids, adults as well," she said. "We have a lot of tradies out here that bought them for their little pick-me-up, and now they can't do it."

New Zealand Food Safety said non compliance could lead to court action.

"I do what I'm told," Saunders said. "It's an end of an era."

Newshub.