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On Dec. 31, 2019, China NHC opened 13 national food safety standards for public feedback, including:
National Food Safety Standard Maximum Residue Limit of Contaminant in Food
National Food Safety Standard Maximum Residue Limit of Mycotoxin in Food
National Food Safety Standard Maximum Residue Limit of Pathogens in Food
National Food Safety Standard Maximum Residue Limit of Pathogenic Microorganism in Instant Bulk Food
National Food Safety Standard General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods
National Food Safety Standard Frozen Flour or Rice Products and Prepared Food
National Food Safety Standard Sweet Fermented-Rice
National Food Safety Standard Nutritional Fortification Substance Manganese Carbonate
National Food Safety Standard Nutritional Fortification Substance Sodium Selenate
National Food Safety Standard Good Manufacturing Practice for Dairy Products
National Food Safety Standard Good Manufacturing Practice for Infant Formula Milk Powder
National Food Safety Standard determination of Vanillin, Methyl Vanillin, Ethyl Vanillin and Coumarin in Food
National Food Safety Standard Alkaline Comet Assay (single-cell gel electrophoresis) in Mammals
Any feedback shall be sent back before Feb. 28, 2020.
The proposed revision to GB 7718 General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods
1. The labeling requirements for imported prepackaged food are added.
An exclusive chapter is drafted to stipulate the requirements of imported food labeling. Chinese label must be printed or stuck on the imported food package. Information in English/traditional Chinese shall have a corresponding translation in standard Chinese, and the contents cannot be exaggerated or misleading.
The English ingredient must also have a corresponding Chinese translation. If some ingredients are not indicated on the original package, and are present in the product, and should be indicated in accordance with Chinese regulations, these ingredients shall be added in the Chinese ingredient list as well (including water and single raw material added for production and processing).
In terms of the labeling of countries/regions of origin, if two or over two countries/regions are involved in production of the food, the last country/region where any significant processing took place shall be listed as the country of origin.
With reference to article 4.7.1, the expression of production date and shelf life shall follow the order of "year, month, and date". If the product package does not include a manufacturing date, it must be indicated and should be calculated based on the shelf life.
2. Allergens are a mandatory labeling item
With reference to article 4.12, allergens shall be underscored in the ingredient list or indicated nearby if they are contained in the final products. Annex E stipulates the allergens subject to mandatory label which includes the following eight types of food:
Cereal containing gluten and its products (such as wheat, rye, barley, oats, spelled wheat or their hybrid strains)
Crustacean and its products (such as shrimp, lobster, crab, etc.)
Fish and its products
Egg and its products
Peanut and its products
Soybean and its products
Dairy and dairy products (including lactose)
Nuts and pips products
3. The labeling requirement of the ingredient list is updated
Article 4.3.7 details the labeling requirements of bacteria added for processing or production purposes. For example, if a bacteria is added for any other purposes other than fermentation, its specific name, strain No. and unit count shall be indicated if the active bacteria are present in the final product.
Additionally, it is prohibited to use negative content claims or related terminology such as "does not contain” or “no xx added”.
4. More appendixes are included to illustrate the labeling requirements.
Compared with GB 7718-2011, the appendixes newly added include:
Appendix A The requirements of characters used in prepackaged food label and format of some labeling items
Appendix D the form of ingredients' quantitative labeling
Appendix E The form of allergen substances labeling in food
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