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Some features of Frozen Drinks Market
Summer is the most important part of the year for frozen drinks sales in China. Both domestic and foreign enterprise perform well in China’s frozen drink market. In 2014, China became the biggest market in the world for ice cream, with sales surpassing US $11.4bn compared to the US market’s $11.2bn.
In terms of how these products are subdivided, we should abandon the distinction between hard ice cream (also called ice cream in America) and soft ice cream（or Gelato）because Chinese standards have a different way of referring to them, as you will see below.
Definition
According to GB 2759-2015, which is China’s most recent Standard for frozen drinks and production materials, frozen drinks “refer to foods in solid or semi-solid forms that use several of materials among drinking water, sugar, milk, milk products, fruit and vegetable products, legumes and edible oil and fat, etc. as main raw materials, added or not added with other auxiliary materials, food additives and food nutritional fortification substances, and going through mixing, pasteurizing or sterilization, congelation or freezing processes, including ice cream, ice milk, ice frost, ice lolly, sweet ice, edible ice, etc.”
This denomination also includes materials used in their production, that is to say “products in liquid, solid or powder forms which are compounded according to the final product recipe used for making soft ice cream or soft ice milk after congelation, including soft ice cream paste, soft ice milk past and soft ice cream pre-mixed flour, etc”. That’s why manufacturers and importers should bear in mind that many of the requirements for frozen drinks also apply to the materials used in the production process.
Product Classification
As previously stated, Chinese standards distinguish different kinds of frozen drinks depending on the product composition. GB/T 31114 distinguishes between six different types of Ice Cream:
| Type | Requirements |
| Uniform full-milk fat | Contains great than (>) 8% of milk fat, free from lump or granule |
| Combination full-milk fat | A combination of full-milk fat ice-cream and other type of frozen drinks or food. Contains greater than (>) 50% of full-milk fat ice-cream. |
| Uniform half-milk fat | Contain at least (≥) 2.2% of milk fat, free from lump or granule |
| Combination half-milk fat | A combination of half-milk fat ice-cream and other type of frozen drinks or food. Contains greater than (>) 50% of half-milk fat ice-cream. |
| Uniform vegetable fat ice-cream | Contain less than (<) 2.2% of milk fat, free from lump or granule |
| Combination vegetable fat ice-cream | A combination of vegetable fat ice-cream and other type of frozen drinks or food. Contains greater than (>) 50% of vegetable fat ice-cream. |
While according to GB/T 30590, ice frost can be classified into 2 types:
| Type | Requirements |
| Uniform | free from lump or granule |
| Combination | A combination of ice frost and other type of frozen drinks or food. Contains greater than (>) 50% of ice frost. |
Relevant laws and regulations
Apart from China’s Food Safety Law and a wide array of other overarching horizontal standards, all frozen drinks entering Chinese market have to comply with the following vertical standards specific for this category of products:
-GB 2759-2015 National Food Safety Standard for Frozen Drinks and Preparation Materials (come into force on 13, Nov, 2016, replacing GB 2759.1-2003)
-GB/T 30590-2014 Frozen drinks category ;
-GB/T 31114-2014 Frozen drinks-Ice cream ;
-SB/T 10014-2008 frozen drinks—ice frost .
Labeling Requirements
There are no specific labeling requirements for this kind of products. However, all frozen drink products have to comply with GB 7718 which sets the fundamental requirements for prepackaged foods as well as
-JJF 1070 for requirements for net weight,
-GB 28050 for nutrition information and nutritional claims and
-GB 12904 for bar codes.
Technical Requirements
Limits of contaminants should comply with provisions regarding frozen drinks contained in GB 2762, while the limits for bacteria are regulated by GB 29921, while food additives fall under GB 2760 and nutritional fortification substances under GB 14880.
Special Temperature Requirements
Given the characteristics of these products, manufacturers and importers should remember that frozen drinks have to adhere to distinct provisions regarding transportation, storage and sales.
All transportation vehicles should meet sanitary requirements and be equipped with devices that can retain temperature and keep the inherent state of such products. In addition, frozen drinks should be stored at a temperature not higher than -18 ℃ in a designed refrigeration house that has to be cleaned, swept and sterilized regularly. Productions materials should also be stored appropriately. As for sales, frozen drinks should be sold while they are frozen and the temperature of refrigerated display cabinets should never exceed -15℃
Conclusion
As a conclusion, these are the physical, chemical, hygienic, microbiological and pathogenic requirements frozen drink products have to satisfy to be sold in China.
Physical and chemical index
| Items | indicators | |||||
| Full-milk fat | Half-milk fat | Vegetable fat | ||||
| Uniform type | Main part of combination type | Uniform type | Main part of combination type | Uniform type | Main part of combination type | |
| Milk fat, % | >8.0 | ≥2.2 | <2.2 | |||
| Non-fat milk solids, g/100g | ≥6.0 | |||||
| Total solids, g/100g | ≥30.0 | |||||
| Fat, g/100g | ≥8.0 | ≥6.0 | ≥5.0 | ≥6.0 | ≥5.0 | |
| Protein, g/100g | ≥2.5 | ≥2.2 | ≥2.5 | ≥2.2 | ≥2.5 | ≥2.2 |
| Items | Limit | Testing method |
| Lead(Pb), mg/kg | ≤0.3 | GB 5009.12 |
| Melamine, mg/kg | ≤2.5 | null |
| Items | GB 2759-2015 Requirements | Product Specification | Result | Testing method | |||
| n | c | m | M | ||||
| Total Plate Count*, CFU/g or CFU/mL | 5 | 2 | 2.5×104 | 105 | not provided | null | GB 4789.2 |
| Coliform, CFU/g or CFU/mL | 5 | 2 | 10 | 102 | not provided | null |
GB 4789.3-2010 plate counting |
| *TPC: Not applicable for products with active strains (anaerobe and facultative anaerobe) added | |||||||
|
Note: Sampling by three-class attributes plans on TPC, coliform n: total sample number in 1 batch c: maximum tolerance number of sample, of which testing result between m and M. m: microbiological acceptance level M: microbiological maximum safety tolerance | |||||||
| Items | GB 29921 Requirements | Testing method | |||
| n | c | m | M | ||
| salmonella | 5 | 0 | 0 | - | GB 4789.4 |
| staphylococcus aureus, CFU/g or CFU/mL | 5 | 1 | 100 | 1000 |
GB 4789.10 Method 2 |
|
Note: Sampling by three-class attributes plans on salmonella, S.aureus. n: total sample number in 1 batch c: maximum tolerance number of sample, of which testing result between m and M. m: microbiological acceptance level M: microbiological maximum safety tolerance | |||||
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