China Consults on GB standard for Complementary Food Supplements

On Feb. 16, 2022, China Institute of Food Science and Technology unveiled the exposure draft of GB 22570 National Food Safety Standard Complementary Food Supplements. Any comments should be sent to [email protected] before Feb. 28, 2022.

Compared with the current 2014 version, the key revisions are listed below:

The application scope is expanded

GB 22570-2014 applies to complementary food supplements designed for infants of 6 to 36 months old and children of 37 to 60 months old. In the exposure draft, the scope is extended to products targeting at infant and young children aged from 6 to 72 months old.

The definition is more accurate

The exposure draft removes the definition of complementary baby food. Meanwhile, products' definition is optimized. For example, the definition of complementary food nutrition sprinkles is changed from “complementary food nutrition supplement mixed by multiple micronutrients in powder or granule form, without food substrate” to “complementary food nutrition supplement mixed by multiple micronutrients in powder or granule form, without food substrate or other food raw materials”.

Products prepared for daily consumption should be packaged individually

The exposure draft clarified that the product prepared for daily consumption should be packaged individually. The recommended daily dosages of corresponding products remain unchanged with the current standard.

The ingredient requirements are detailed

According to the exposure draft, complementary food supplements shall not be added with strains applicable to food, hydrogenated oil and fat, or radiation-treated raw materials.

The contents of essential and optional ingredients are updated

The following tables showcase the proposed essential and optional ingredients level in complementary food supplements.

Table 1 Indicators of essential ingredients

Table 2 Indicators of optional ingredients

*Please click here for the completed version.