Japan Revises Food Labeling Standards: Updates to Additive Labeling, Nutrient Reference Values, and FFC Notifications

On March 28, 2025, Japan's Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) announced a comprehensive revision to the Food Labeling Standards, covering food additive labeling, nutrition labeling, and regulations for Foods with Function Claims (FFC). Key updates are summarized below, with amendments indicated in red.

Key Revisions:

1. Removal of Labeling Exemption for Nutritional Fortification Additives

Effective date: March 28, 2025
Grace period until: March 31, 2030

Previously, food additives used for nutritional fortification were exempt from mandatory labeling on processed food products. This exemption has now been removed.

Before	After
Mandatory Labeling Items for Processed Foods (1)–(3) (Omitted) (4) Food Additives For food additives contained in a product, their specific substance names must be declared, except for those used for nutritional fortification, processing aids, and carry-over additives.	Mandatory Labeling Items for Processed Foods (1)–(3) (Omitted) (4) Food Additives For food additives contained in a product, their specific substance names must be declared, except for processing aids and carry-over additives.

2. Revision of Nutrient Labeling Requirements

Effective date: March 28, 2025
Grace period for (1): until March 31, 2028

This revision updates the reference values for relevant nutrients and refines the labeling specifications in accordance with the 2025 Japanese Dietary Intake Standards.

(1) Updating reference values for labeling nutrients such as protein, calcium, zinc, and sodium.

These values serve as the recommended nutrient intake levels for food labeling, and are calculated using the average nutrient intake for different age and gender groups in Japan, aiming to support public health.

No.	Nutrients & Energy	Unit	Nutrient Labeling Values
No.	Nutrients & Energy	Unit	Before	After
1	Protein	g	81	85
2	Fat	g	62	70
3	Saturated Fatty Acids	g	16	17
4	n-3 Fatty Acids	g	2.0	2.0
5	n-6 Fatty Acids	g	9.0	10.0
6	Carbohydrates	g	320	320
7	Dietary Fiber	g	19	20
8	Zinc	mg	8.8	8.5
9	Potassium	mg	2,800	2,800
10	Calcium	mg	680	700
11	Chromium	µg	10	10
12	Selenium	µg	28	28
13	Iron	mg	6.8	6.5
14	Copper	mg	0.9	0.8
15	Sodium	mg	2,900	2,700 (however, when converted into salt equivalent, it is 7.0 grams)
16	Magnesium	mg	320	320
17	Manganese	mg	3.8	3.2
18	Molybdenum	µg	25	25
19	Iodine	µg	130	140
20	Phosphorus	mg	900	900
21	Niacin	mg	13	13
22	Pantothenic acid	mg	4.8	5.5
23	Biotin	µg	50	50
24	Vitamin A	µg	770	770
25	Vitamin B1	mg	1.2	1.0
26	Vitamin B2	mg	1.4	1.4
27	Vitamin B6	mg	1.3	1.3
28	Vitamin B12	µg	2.4	4.0
29	Vitamin C	mg	100	100
30	Vitamin D	µg	5.5	9.0
31	Vitamin E	mg	6.3	6.5
32	Vitamin K	µg	150	150
33	Folic acid	µg	240	240
34	Energy	kcal	2,200	2,200

(2) Revising reference values for nutrient content claims

The reference value for nutrient content claims such as "contains," "high in," and "fortified" have been updated in Annex 12 to align with current nutritional guidance.

No.	Nutrients	Unit	"Contains" Claim (Per 100g)		"High in" Claim (Per 100g)		"Fortified" Claim (Per 100g)
No.	Nutrients	Unit	Before	After	Before	After	Before	After
1	Protein	g	8.1	8.5	16.2	17.0	8.1	8.5
2	Dietary Fiber	g	3	3	6	6	3	3
3	Zinc	mg	1.32	1.28	2.64	2.55	0.88	0.85
4	Potassium	mg	420	420	840	840	280	280
5	Calcium	mg	102	105	204	210	68	70
6	Iron	mg	1.02	0.98	2.04	1.95	0.68	0.65
7	Copper	mg	0.14	0.12	0.27	0.24	0.09	0.08
8	Magnesium	mg	48	48	96	96	32	32
9	Niacin	mg	1.95	1.95	3.9	3.9	1.3	1.3
10	Pantothenic acid	mg	0.72	0.83	1.44	1.65	0.48	0.55
11	Biotin	µg	7.5	7.5	15	15	5	5
12	Vitamin A	µg	116	116	231	231	77	77
13	Vitamin B1	mg	0.18	0.15	0.36	0.30	0.12	0.10
14	Vitamin B2	mg	0.21	0.21	0.42	0.42	0.14	0.14
15	Vitamin B6	mg	0.20	0.20	0.39	0.39	0.13	0.13
16	Vitamin B12	µg	0.36	0.60	0.72	1.20	0.24	0.40
17	Vitamin C	mg	15	15	30	30	10	10
18	Vitamin D	µg	0.83	1.35	1.65	2.70	0.55	0.90
19	Vitamin E	mg	0.95	0.98	1.89	1.95	0.63	0.65
20	Vitamin K	µg	22.5	22.5	45	45	15	15
21	Folic acid	µg	36	36	72	72	24	24

(3) Revising tolerance ranges and zero thresholds for dietary fiber

The allowable tolerance range for dietary fiber labeling has been revised. In addition, new threshold values for indicating "zero" dietary fiber have been established.

Nutrients & Energy

Unit

Measurement and Calculation Method

Tolerance Range

Thresholds for "Zero"

Dietary fiber

Prosky's method or high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)

Before

±20％

After

±20％

However, if the amount of dietary fiber per 100g of the food (or per 100ml for soft drinks and similar beverages) is less than 2.5g, a tolerance of ±0.5g is permitted.

0.5g

(4) Introducing methods for the measurement and calculation of vitamin B group.

New standardized methods for measuring and calculating vitamin B group content have been added to support accurate nutrient labeling.

Nutrients & Energy	Unit	Measurement and Calculation Method		Tolerance Range	Thresholds for "zero"
Pantothenic acid	mg	Before	Microbiological determination	+80％, ｰ20％	/
		After	Microbiological determination or HPLC
Vitamin B6	µg	Before	Microbiological determination	+80％, ｰ20％	/
		After	Microbiological determination or HPLC
Vitamin B12	µg	Before	Microbiological determination	+80％, ｰ20％	/
		After	Microbiological determination or HPLC

3. Revision of Relevant Provisions for Foods with Function Claims (FFC)

Effective date: April 1, 2025

The CAA has consolidated and standardized the provisions in the Food Labeling Standards regarding Foods with Function Claims (FFC), clarifying the procedures for notification, compliance requirements, and reporting methods.

Enterprises submitting FFC notifications must confirm that the product is neither a pharmaceutical nor or a food with safety concerns before submission. Notifications must be submitted electronically via the FFC Notification Database (機能性表示食品制度届出データベース) maintained by the CAA.

The submitted information must comply with the requirements specified in Annex 26 (Items 1 - 6) of the Food Labeling Standards and follow the prescribed format outlined in the new notification. In cases where electronic submission is not possible due to unavoidable circumstances (e.g., natural disasters), submission using the designated paper-based format or an equivalent format will be accepted.

Appended From	Contents
Appended Form (Ⅰ)	Checklist for preparing notification documents for FFC
Appended Form (Ⅱ)	Safety evaluation sheet
Appended Form (Ⅲ) ‐1 -1	Information on manufacturing and quality control (tablets, capsules, etc., using naturally extracted materials as raw ingredients)
Appended Form (Ⅲ)-1-2	Information on manufacturing and quality control (other processed foods)
Appended Form (Ⅲ)‐2	Information on production, harvesting, fishing, and quality control (fresh foods)
Appended Form (Ⅲ)‐３	Information on the analysis of raw materials and final products
Appended Form (Ⅲ)‐4	Information on the analysis of final products using extracts or similar components as functional ingredients Information on the analysis of raw materials using extracts or similar components as functional ingredients Evaluation of the equivalence of extracts, etc. in the evaluation of safety and functionality
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-1-1	Checklist for the scientific basis of functionality
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-1-2	Submitter's involvement in the explanatory materials regarding the functionality to be claimed (systematic review).
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-2	Documentation explaining rational reasons for using a human testing method different from the one for Foods for Specified Health Uses (FOSHU)
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-3	Supplementary documentation regarding the scientific evidence of the functionality to be claimed
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-4	Documents explaining the functionality of functional ingredients (systematic review)
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-5	Database search results
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-6	Literature search flowchart
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-7	List of adopted references
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-8	List of excluded references
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-9	List of unreported studies
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-10	Reference list
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-11a or b	Quality evaluation sheets for individual studies (human trials)
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-12 a or b	Quality evaluation sheets for individual studies (observational studies)
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-13 a or b	Quality evaluation sheet for overall evidence
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-14	Summary sheet (qualitative systematic review)
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-15	Summary sheet (meta-analysis)
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-16	Evaluation sheet for the results of the systematic review
Appended Form (Ⅴ)-17	Evaluation sheet for the relevance between systematic review results and the functionality to be claimed