China Goat Milk Powder Non-Compliance Highlights Regulatory Loopholes

Recently, 12 batches of domestic infant formula products were backlisted by CFDA after samples were tested and found to violate requirements laid down in the national standard GB 10765-2010. 9 batches were goat based milk powder produced for consumption by babies and manufactured by IF manufacturers located in China Shaanxi Province.

The issues have raised public attention to the regulation of goat milk powder. The labeling of goat milk powder have been heavily criticized by industry insiders that revealed that most infant formula products made of goat milk powder are blended with bovine whey powder. Labels of these products do not indicate the relative percentage of these ingredients, and undermines consumer right to know comprehensive nutritional and ingredient information and poses risks to sensitive populations. Currently there are no specific requirements in place for labeling goat milk powder, leaving a regulatory loophole for marketers to exploit through the use of misleading labeling and advertising claims.

The draft of the Administrative Measures for Registration of Infant Formula Formulations (see CL food news on 2 Sep 2015) proposes the registration requirement for IF formulations and does include provisions for mandatory labeling requirements for goat milk based formula “infant formula made of goat milk (powder), the product name can be goat milk powder for infants and young children; the ingredient list should clearly indicate the percentage of goat milk (powder) in every 100g products and the source of whey protein.” The pending regulation is still under discussion by the government and industry and is predicated to be issued at the end of this month (see CL food news on 3 Dec 2015).