On March 27, 2025, China National Health Commission (NHC) unveiled 50 national food safety standards (GB standards) and 9 amendment sheets. Among them, four standards are related to dairy products, including fermented milk, cream, raw milk, and sterilized milk.
Major Updates
1. Fermented Milk
Compared to current GB 19302-2010, this new version introduces several key updates, covering scope, terms and definitions, sensory requirements, physicochemical indicators, microbial limits and others. Comparison of the two versions are outlined as follows:
Item | GB 19302-2010 | GB 19302-2025 |
Scope | It applies to whole milk, skimmed and partially skimmed fermented milk. | It applies to whole milk, skimmed and partially skimmed fermented milk and flavored fermented milk. |
Terms & definitions |
Flavored Fermented Milk: A product containing over 80% raw cow's (goat's) milk or milk powder as base, supplemented with other ingredients, sterilized and fermented to reduce pH, with optional additives/nutrients/fruits/grains added before or after fermentation.
Flavored Yoghurt: A product containing over 80% raw cow's (goat's) milk or milk powder as base, supplemented with other ingredients, sterilized and fermented with S. thermophilus and L. bulgaricus, with optional additives/nutrients/fruits/grains added before or after fermentation.
| Fermented milk: A product made from one or more of raw cow's (goat's) milk, food-grade concentrated milk for industrial use, or milk powder, processed through sterilization and fermentation to reduce its pH value. Yoghurt: A product made from one or more of raw cow's (goat's) milk, food-grade concentrated milk for industrial use, or milk powder, processed through sterilization and fermentation with Streptococcus salivarius subsp. thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus. Flavored Fermented Milk: A product containing no less than 80% (meaning ≥80g milk solids per 100g product, excluding fruits/grains) of one or more base materials: raw cow's (goat's) milk, food-grade concentrated milk for industrial use, or milk powder; supplemented with other ingredients, sterilized and fermented to reduce pH, with optional additives/nutrients/fruits/grains added before or after fermentation. Flavored Yoghurt: A product containing no less than 80% (≥80g milk solids per 100g product, excluding fruits/grains) of one or more base materials: raw cow's (goat's) milk, food-grade concentrated milk for industrial use, or milk powder; supplemented with other ingredients, sterilized and fermented with S. salivarius subsp. thermophilus and L. delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, with optional additives/nutrients/fruits/grains added before or after fermentation.
|
Sensory requirements | Testing method: Take an appropriate amount of sample into a 50mL beaker. Observe color and texture under natural light. Smell the odor, rinse mouth with lukewarm water, then taste. | Testing method: Take an appropriate amount of sample into a 50mL beaker (solidified products may be left in original packaging). Observe color and texture under natural light. Smell the odor, rinse mouth with lukewarm water, then taste. |
Physicochemical indicators | | |
Microbial limits | It sets limits for Coliform, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, Yeast, and Mold. | It sets limits for Coliform, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, Yeast, and Mold. Pathogenic limits shall comply with GB 29921.
|
Others (labeling) | Products made entirely from milk powder should be labeled with "Reconstituted Milk" or "Reconstituted Dairy" near the product name. Products produced by adding partial milk powder to raw cow's (goat's) milk shall indicate "Contains ××% reconstituted milk" adjacently to the product name. | Products made entirely from milk powder should be labeled with "Reconstituted Milk" or "Reconstituted Dairy" near the product name. Products produced using partial milk powder shall indicate "Contains ××% reconstituted milk" adjacently to the product name. The product name can use descriptive terms for fat content, such as degreasing, partial degreasing and full fat.
|
2. Cream, Butter and Anhydrous Milkfat
The new version of GB 19646 mainly revises the terms and definitions, physicochemical indicators, microbial limits and others.
Item | GB 19646-2010 | GB 19646-2025 |
Terms & definitions | Cream: Products derived from milk by separating the fatty portion, with optional addition of other ingredients, food additives and nutritional fortifiers, processed to contain 10.0%~80.0% fat.
Butter: Products made from milk and/or (fermented/unfermented) cream, with optional addition of other ingredients, food additives and nutritional fortifiers, processed to contain ≥80.0% fat. Anhydrous Milkfat: Products made from milk and/or (fermented/unfermented) cream, with optional addition of food additives and nutritional fortifiers, processed to contain ≥99.8% fat.
| Cream: Products derived from raw milk by separating the fatty portion, with optional addition of food additives only, processed to contain fat content of 10.0g/100g~80.0g/100g. Modified Cream: Products made from one or more of raw milk, cream, or anhydrous cream, with optional addition of other ingredients (excluding non- dairy fats), food additives and nutritional fortifiers, processed to contain fat content of 10.0g/100g~80.0g/100g. Butter: Products made from one or more of raw milk, cream, or anhydrous milk fat as primary ingredients, with optional addition of other ingredients (excluding non-dairy fats) and food additives, processed to contain ≥80.0g/100g fat. Anhydrous Milkfat: Products made from one or more of raw milk, cream, or anhydrous cream, with optional addition of food additives only, processed to contain ≥99.8g/100g fat.
|
Physicochemical indicators | Solids-Non-Fat/(%): ≤2.0 (butter) Testing of acidity: refer to GB 5413.34 Testing of fat: refer to GB 5413.3
| Solids-Non-Fat/(%): ≤2.0 (butter) Testing of acidity: refer to GB 5009.6 Testing of fat: refer to GB 5009.6
|
Microbial limits | It sets limits for Aerobic Plate Count, Coliform, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, and Mold. | It sets limits for Aerobic Plate Count, Coliform, Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella, and Mold. Pathogenic limits shall comply with GB 29921.
|
Others (labeling) | / | The label of cream products should indicate the product category, such as "fermented cream" and "fermented modified cream," "acidified cream", and "acidified modified cream".
|
3. Raw Milk
The amendment sheet revises one of the physicochemical indicators of raw milk.
Item | GB 19301-2010 | No.1 Amendment Sheet |
Physicochemical indicators | | |
4. Sterilized Milk
The amendment sheet makes several changes, including the update of terms and definitions, the removal of some requirements for raw materials and labeling. Reconstituted milk is no longer allowed to be used to produce sterilized milk.
Item | GB 25190-2010 | No.1 Amendment Sheet |
Terms and definitions | Ultra High-Temperature Milk: A product using raw cow's (goat's) milk as raw material, with optional addition of reconstituted milk, sterilized at minimum 132°C maintained very briefly under continuous flow state, followed by aseptic packaging procedures to produce liquid dairy, without any addition of reconstituted milk. Retort Sterilized Milk: A liquid product made from raw cow's (or goat's) milk, with or without the addition of reconstituted milk, that undergoes sterilization and other processes after being filled and sealed, regardless of whether it has undergone preheating.
| Ultra High-Temperature Milk: A product using raw cow's (goat's) milk as raw material, with optional addition of reconstituted milk, sterilized at minimum 132°C maintained very briefly under continuous flow state, followed by aseptic packaging procedures to produce liquid dairy, without any addition of reconstituted milk. Retort Sterilized Milk: A liquid product made rom raw cow's (or goat's) milk, with or without the addition of reconstituted milk, that undergoes sterilization and other processes after being filled and sealed, regardless of whether it has undergone preheating.
|
Raw Materials | | |
Others (labeling) | Ultra-high temperature (UHT) sterilized milk made exclusively from raw cow's (or goat's) milk should be labeled with "Pure Cow (Goat) Milk" or "Pure Cow (Goat) Dairy" next to the product name on the main display panel of the packaging. The font size should be no smaller than that of the product name, and its height should be at least one-fifth of the main display panel's height. Sterilized milk made entirely from milk powder should be labeled with "Reconstituted Milk" or "Reconstituted Dairy" next to the product name. Sterilized milk made by adding a portion of milk powder to raw cow's (or goat's) milk should be labeled with "Contains ××% Reconstituted Milk" or "Contains ××% Reconstituted Dairy" next to the product name. The terms "Reconstituted Milk" or "Reconstituted Dairy" must be displayed on the same main display panel as the product name. The labeling must be prominent, with font size no smaller than that of the product name and font height at least one-fifth of the main display panel's height.
| Ultra-high temperature (UHT) sterilized milk made exclusively from raw cow's (or goat's) milk should be labeled with "Pure Cow (Goat) Milk" or "Pure Cow (Goat) Dairy" next to the product name on the main display panel of the packaging. The font size should be no smaller than that of the product name, and its height should be at least one-fifth of the main display panel's height. Sterilized milk made entirely from milk powder should be labeled with "Reconstituted Milk" or "Reconstituted Dairy" next to the product name. Sterilized milk made by adding a portion of milk powder to raw cow's (or goat's) milk should be labeled with "Contains ××% Reconstituted Milk" or "Contains ××% Reconstituted Dairy" next to the product name. The terms "Reconstituted Milk" or "Reconstituted Dairy" must be displayed on the same main display panel as the product name. The labeling must be prominent, with font size no smaller than that of the product name and font height at least one-fifth of the main display panel's height.
|
Request a Demo
We provide full-scale global food market entry services (including product registration, ingredient review, regulatory consultation, customized training, market research, branding strategy). Please contact us to discuss how we can help you by 
