On May 17th, China Non-staple Food Circulation Association (“CNFCA”) released the General Standard for Children Snack Food (“General Standard”), which would take effect on June 15th. It is the first standard for children's snack food in China.
Standard Overview
This standard consists of five chapters. The first three chapters set forth scope, normative references and definitions. Chapter four explains technical requirements. Chapter five is about labels and packages.
To be specific about technical requirements, Chapter four includes raw material requirements, sensory requirements, nutritional ingredients, physical and chemical index, contaminant limits, mycotoxin limits, microbiological limits and food additive requirements.
Main Content
1) Set Nutritional Demands of Different Ages
This standard categorizes children as preschool-aged children (age 3 to 6) and school-aged children (age 6 to 12). It stipulates different nutritional demands of different-aged children according to their growing needs.[1]
2) Low Sugar, Low Salt and Low Oil
For children’s health, with reference to Snack Food Guideline of Children and Teenagers in China, the General Standard suggests low sugar, low salt and low oil and sets maximum limits of sodium chloride, sugar and fat.
For snacks claim to be no/low fat, no/low sugar, no/low salt, maximum limits are as follows:[2]
Snack Claims | Maximum Limits in Solid Snack | Maximum Limits in Liquid Snack |
No Fat | Fat content ≤0.5 g/100 g | Fat content ≤0.5 g/100 mL |
Low Fat | Fat content ≤3 g/100 g | Fat content ≤1.5 g/100 mL |
No Sugar | Sugar content ≤0.5 g/100 g | Sugar content ≤0.5 g/100 mL |
Low Sugar | Sugar content ≤5 g/100 g | Sugar content ≤5 g/100 mL |
No Salt | Sodium content ≤5mg/100g | Sodium content ≤5mg/100mL |
Low Salt | Sodium content ≤120 mg/100 g | Sodium content ≤120 mg/100 mL |
3) Package Design
The General Standard establishes safety requirements for children snack food packages. Packaging design should take safety into full consideration to avoid hurting children or being eaten by children.
Children Snack Food Market Research White Book
CNFCA released Children Snack Food Market Research White Book (“White Book”) together with the General Standard.
As revealed by statistics in the White Book, the number of preschoolers and pupils (age 3 to 12) reached 159 million in 2018.[2] Snack food enterprises face great opportunities in children snack food sector.
2011-2020 Snack Food Market Scale in China[2]
Implications for Stakeholders
Association standard refers to standards made and published by social organizations. Associations could set standards for innovative and emerging fields where there is no national standard, industrial standard, or local standard as respond to changing market needs.
Although the government encourages associations to make strict standards to improve product competitiveness, these association standards are not mandatory to enterprises.[3]
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