Japan Revises Labeling Regulations for Soy Milk Products

“Additives”, “raw material origin name”, and “amount and calorie of nutritional ingredients” are added as mandatory labeling items for soy milk products. The previous labeling provisions on the raw material origin name still apply to the soy milk products manufactured before March 31, 2021.

On December 22, 2021, the Federation of Fair Trade Conferences and Consumer Affairs Agency jointly issued a statement, which added “additives”, “raw material origin name”, and “amount and calorie of nutritional ingredients” as mandatory labeling items for soy milk products. This statement came into force upon issuance.

Mandatory labeling Item

No.	Previous	Present	Notes
1	Product name	Product name	/
2	Soybean solid content	Soybean solid content	/
3	Raw material names	Raw material names	/
4	/	Additives	Additives shall be labeled in descending order; Labeling for additives used for fortification cannot be omitted;
5	/	Raw material origin name	it is subjected to a target raw material for soy milk products other than imported food products; *Target raw material refers to the raw material with the highest weight ratio to the raw material used.
6	Inner capacity	Inner capacity	/
7	Expiration date	Expiration date	/
8	Preservation method	Preservation method	/
9	Precautions for use when canned products other than inner paint cans	Precautions for use when canned products other than inner paint cans	/
10	Country of origin (imported products)	Country of origin (imported products)	/
11	Name or address of food-related business operator (importer)	Name or address of food-related business operator (importer)	/
12	/	Amount and calorie of nutritional ingredients	Including proteins, lipids, carbohydrates, and sodium

Notably, the previous labeling provisions on the raw material origin name still apply to the soy milk products manufactured before March 31, 2021. Besides, if the product does not contain any animal protein, it can claim as a vegetable protein beverage.