China’s Prepackaged Food Labeling Standard Takes Effect: Refined Rules for Ingredients, Additives and Allergens

China’s mandatory national standard, the General Rules for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods, has now taken effect. With unclear label information continuing to trigger food safety concerns, the updated rules turn the labeling requirements of the Food Safety Law and other regulations into more specific obligations. Ingredients must appear in descending order based on the amount added during manufacturing or processing; compared with the previous version, the standard also adds contact details for producers and distributors.

Under the new standard, prepackaged food labels must carry mandatory information such as the food name, ingredient list, net content and specifications, the producer’s and operator’s names, addresses and contact details, production date and shelf life, storage conditions, food production license number, product standard code, and other required items. The approach to food additive labeling has changed as well. Where labels once used broad terms such as food coloring, they must now identify specific additives—for example, a product containing the yellow colorant tartrazine must state tartrazine—so ordinary consumers can understand what is in the package.

The standard requires ingredients to be listed in descending order by added amount, giving consumers a clearer, more intuitive view of each ingredient’s proportion in a food product. In addition, it identifies eight categories of allergenic substances and encourages companies to disclose them voluntarily as a consumer alert and a social responsibility. Producers may also choose to label other allergenic substances beyond those eight categories.

Consumer confidence in health foods has fallen sharply after controversies involving products such as Red Bull drinks and spirulina. The new standard adds requirements for health foods, including that labels must not state or imply any role in preventing or treating disease, and that non-health foods must not claim health benefits. This provision can help prevent some companies from misleading consumers in order to boost sales.

Compared with the old standard, the new rules particularly require contact information for producers and distributors, along with the name and address of a producer that is legally registered and able to bear responsibility for product safety and quality. This improves traceability for consumer complaints and provides stronger assurance regarding the quality of prepackaged foods.

— Source: China Packaging Network (pack.cn); original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362087.html