China's General Rules for Nutrition Labeling Take Full Effect Next Year: Mandatory Labels Reshape Prepackaged Food Packaging

Starting January 1, 2013, the General Rules for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods came into force as China's first national standard on food nutrition labeling. To help manufacturers quickly understand the document and bring their labels into compliance, the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health will spend the next three years working closely with the food industry to drive real implementation. Foods produced on or after January 1, 2013 will all be governed by the nutrition labeling standards set out in the General Rules.

As the first mandatory national standard in the field of nutrition labeling, the General Rules gives clear guidance on how nutrition labels on prepackaged foods should be reviewed, covering the nutrition facts table, nutrient claims and nutrient function claims. The facts table must state the levels of energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium, and many nutrient and function claims are subject to specific quantitative limits. Once the rule applies, every food product must carry a nutrition label on its small retail package, and products with non-compliant labels may not be sold. Label inspection and supervision for imported foods, meanwhile, now rests on a firmer footing.

Under the General Rules for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods (hereafter the General Rules) published by the Ministry of Health last week, China will fully roll out its food nutrition labeling management system starting next year.

Su Zhi, director of the Department of Food Safety and Health Supervision at the Ministry of Health, said that once the General Rules take effect, foods produced after January 1, 2013 will have to follow its nutrition labeling standards without exception. Products made before that date but still on the market are treated more leniently, and may keep selling as long as they remain within their shelf life.

Experts point out that earlier Chinese rules on nutrition labeling were fairly broad, relying mainly on the Regulations on the Administration of Food Nutrition Labeling that took effect in May 2008. The Ministry of Health began organizing experts to draft the General Rules in 2010, drawing fully on the management experience of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and relevant countries and aligning the text with the nutritional status of Chinese residents and the need to prevent and treat chronic non-communicable diseases. The final text was released publicly last October.

Under the General Rules, manufacturers must show on the package label the proportions of four nutrients — protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium — while detailed requirements also govern how other nutrients are labeled, what they contain and the functions claimed for them.

At a regular Ministry of Health press conference on August 13, Su Zhi said the vast majority of Chinese residents currently take in noticeably excessive salt, fat and energy through their diets, and many will gradually develop chronic non-communicable diseases as a result. Once the General Rules apply, consumers can read the nutrient figures printed on the pack and make clear, informed choices of healthy products suited to their own needs.

Su Zhi added that, to prepare for implementation, the Ministry of Health has set a transition period for companies adopting the food nutrition labeling standard. Food production and operation enterprises are still allowed and encouraged to apply it at this stage, but from next year regulators will enforce the General Rules strictly.

The more specific requirement is this: all foods produced after January 1, 2013 must follow the nutrition labeling standards in the General Rules, while foods produced earlier and still on sale are granted some flexibility and may remain on the market as long as they are within their shelf life.

On August 17, the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety held the launch meeting of the National Food Nutrition Labeling Health Education campaign in Beijing. It announced that over the next three years it will join forces with Yihai Kerry and other food industry partners, using public-interest posters and videos, technical training seminars and other formats to keep the rollout smooth and enforcement strict.

Speaking at the event, an official from the Policy and Regulation Department of the Ministry of Health told this newspaper that formulating and promoting nutrition labeling is one of the key ways to encourage healthier food consumption, and that further activities to strictly enforce nutrition labeling provisions would follow the launch meeting.

Yang Yuexin, a researcher at the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told this newspaper that the purpose of teaming up with food companies is to press them to understand the General Rules quickly and to standardize and institutionalize their labels, so that food safety and nutrition problems are solved at the source of production.

Tu Changming, director of the Public Relations Department at Yihai Kerry Group, said label content at most domestic edible oil companies is still neither clear nor standardized enough. Yihai Kerry will launch an industry “letter of commitment” urging enterprises to strictly implement the new nutrition labeling rules, and will use public-interest graphics and similar tools to push the whole edible oil sector toward standardized, compliant food labels.

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362043.html