China CFDA Releases Production License Examination Rules for Complementary Foods for Infants and Young Children

Takehome:

• The rules for production license examination for complementary foods for infants and young children have been released, which prohibits sub-packaging, proposes requirements for raw & auxiliary materials and specifies the testing items and methods.

On Feb. 3, 2017, China CFDA released the 2017 version of “Detailed Rules for Production License Examination for Complementary Foods for Infants and Young Children”, which took effect on the day of announcement.

Complementary foods for infants and young children are classified as foods for special dietary purpose in China, which include the categories of cereal-based complementary foods and canned complementary foods for infants and children aged 6-36 months, as well as complementary food supplements for children aged 37-60 months. Relevant product standards are:

• GB 10769-2010 National Food Safety Standard Cereal-based Complementary Foods for Infants and Young Children
• GB 10770-2010 National Food Safety Standard Canned Complementary Foods for Infants and Young Children
• GB 22570-2014 National Food Safety Standard Complementary Food Supplements

This new regulation mainly includes the requirements for production workshop, equipment and facilities, equipment layout and technological process, personal management, etc. It is stipulated that sub-packaging for complementary foods for infants and young children is prohibited, and production license will not be issued if only bulk products rather than products in final sale package are manufactured.

Main standards for raw & auxiliary materials and packaging materials for complementary foods for infants and young children are listed, and the testing items and methods for the three categories of complementary foods have been outlined as well. In case imported raw materials or auxiliary materials are used, the qualification certificates of the suppliers, quality standards, and relevant conformity certificate for each batch of the raw & auxiliary materials issued by CIQs should be audited.

Reference link

China CFDA No. 4 (2017) Announcement