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On Jan. 29, General Administration of Customs released information of non-compliant food during customs inspection in Dec. last year[1]. A total of 106 batches of foods from 19 countries/regions did not meet regulatory obligations. These foods have been returned or disposed by the customs. Key points are:
Japan ranked #1 due to 24 batches of Wakodo baby food
Japan, UK, Taiwan and Malaysia occupied the top 4 slots. Involved brands were Suntory, Wakodo, Weihenstepan, and Bestme. Suntory was in the list for using unapproved sodium stearyl lactate, which is its second violation in 2018 (In May, it was rejected as it did not provide an origin certificate for its 18 batches of fruit wine)[2].
Most violated mandatory items: certificate & additive
Seven out of ten rejected food products failed to provide required certificate/qualification documentation or use food additives according to Chinese regulations. The notable thing is that 24 batches of Wakodo branded complementary infant food were all rejected due to lack of the required qualification certificates.
| Non-compliance item | Volume (batch) | % all batches | Major goods violating the rule |
| Qualification certificate or proof | 43 | 40.6% | Baby food, coffee & tea |
| Food additives and nutritional fortification substances | 34 | 32.1% | Cereal based snacks, beverage |
| Packaging & labeling | 10 | 9.4% | Chocolate, beer |
| Quality & shelf life | 7 | 6.6% | Chocolate & wine |
| contaminants | 7 | 6.6% | Baby food, drinks |
| other | 5 | 4.7% | - |
Frequent violation: baby food & beverage
Major substandard food categories were cereal based products, beverage, coffee & tea, and chocolate. Cereal based complementary infant food and non-alcoholic drinks were also associated with frequent violations in 2018.
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