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On Jan. 29, 2019, China SAMR opened a new draft of health food label requirements to public feedback. Comments shall be sent back prior to Feb. 28, 2019.
The draft underscores the requirement that the health food label should be consistent with the information specified in health food registration/filing certificate. The major changes are:
Mandatory product disclaimer
The disclaimer should be prominently displayed on the minimum sales package/container, and account for no less than 30% of the surface area of that side. The disclaimer should read:
“Health food does not have disease prevention and treatment function. This product cannot replace drugs”
The disclaimer should be printed in boldface and there should be an obvious contrast between the overall package and the characters and the background of disclaimer. When the surface area of the principal display panel is equal to or more than 100 cm2, the character height should be no less than 6.0 mm; otherwise, the minimum height should be adjusted proportionally in terms of the designated ratio.
Complaints hotline information
An area of the label must be designated to include contact information for the complaints hotline and the service time. The health food manufacturer should guarantee that consumers’ complaints could be received and treated during the promised service period and relevant record shall be kept for at least 2 years. Additionally, the complaints hotlines information printed on individual products within a single product line should all be the same.
Implementation date
The new requirement will come into effect on Jan. 1, 2020. Health food products manufactured prior to this date could be sold until the end of shelf life, while the enterprises will be subject to corresponding punishment and penalty based on article 124 and 125 in Food Safety Law if the label of product manufactured after Jan. 1, 2020 does not conform to the new requirements.
Although the 2015 Food Safety Law has stipulated that health food products should indicate the warning and avoid functional claims on label, this draft specifies the detailed placement and surface area.
The recent regulation updates follow on from a spate of high profile incidents involving health food false promotion cases, such as the one involving “Quanjian Natural Medicine Group Co., Ltd.”. Click here to see more actions that Chinese government have taken to crack down those illegal practices.
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