context: This is the first special Measures on food labeling, aiming to consolidate regulations fragmented in laws, administrative regulations, and standards within a single document, thereby improving unity, consistency and authority of labelling management.
In line with Food Safety Law and its implementation rules, State Administration and Market Regulation (SAMR) is calling for comment on ‘Measures on supervision and management of food labels’ until 20 Dec 2019. The draft specifies
- types of food that the Measures apply to
- pre-packaged food
- ready-made food
- bulk food
- edible ag products
- irradiated food
- genetically modified food
- special food, covering healthcare food, infant formula food, special medical formula food
- catering food
- imported food
- scope of ‘food labels’: texts, symbols, numbers, patterns and other instructions stuck to, printed on, marked on or attached to food or its packaging to differentiate or explain basic information, features or properties of food
- food labels must be clear, conspicuous, durable, easily identifiable and recognisable
- food labels must not be detached from food or its packaging
- food labels must be directly attached to smallest unit of food for sale or its packaging
- standard Chinese characters shall be used for all food labels; however ethnic minority languages, pinyin and foreign languages can be used alongside
- food labels should state
- ingredients
- net weight
- name, address and contact details of manufacturer
- date of production and date of expiry
- product standards code
- storage requirements
- imported food should
- have a Chinese label, that shall be directly affixed, printed or marked on the minimum sales package of the food during the production process
- transition period from old labels to new labels is six months
Compared with existing regulations and standards, the Measures shows
- more items that need to be highlighted on labels, including production date, shelf life and warning signs
- stricter requirements on food naming
- using less or no food additives encouraged
- food group standards are allowed to be marked on the food label as an implementation standard for the first time