General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods" to Take Effect on April 20

[ppzhan abstract]

]On February 3, 2012, the website of the Ministry of Health published the 《Pre

packaged Food Labeling General Rules》 (GB7718-2011), together with related questions and interpretations. The standard will be implemented on April 20, 2012. The relevant provisions are set out below. Printing companies may pay extra attention to these matters during production so that, whether for themselves or for their customers, they can avoid any impact on production and operations caused by a lack of understanding of the relevant regulations.

1. Apart from trademarks, traditional Chinese characters will be prohibited from being used alone on food labels

Original text of the provision: This standard stipulates that food labels shall use standard Chinese characters, but trademarks are not included. "Standard Chinese characters" refers to the characters in the 《Table of General Standard Chinese Characters》, excluding traditional Chinese characters. Food labels may use the corresponding traditional Chinese characters while using standard Chinese characters.

1. Correspondence between Chinese and foreign languages: the font size of foreign text shall not be larger than that of the corresponding Chinese characters

Original text of the provision: Prepackaged food labels may also use foreign languages, but the font size of the foreign text used shall not be larger than that of the corresponding Chinese characters. For the mandatory labeling contents required by this standard as well as by other laws, regulations and food safety standards, there shall be a corresponding relationship between the Chinese and foreign languages.

1. Relevant provisions on mandatory labeling contents

Original text of the provision: Food labels shall indicate all mandatory contents in accordance with the requirements of this standard. Depending on the specific label area, the height of the characters, symbols and numerals in the label contents may be less than 1.8mm, and shall be clear and easy to identify. When the mandatory labeling contents include both Chinese characters and alphabetic characters, the height of the Chinese characters shall be greater than or equal to 1.8mm, while for units such as kg and mL or other mandatory labeling characters, whether they are greater than or equal to 1.8mm shall be judged by their uppercase letters or lowercase letters such as "k, f, l".

According to the interpretation of the Ministry of Health, "prepackaged food" refers to food prepackaged or prepared in packaging materials and containers in predetermined quantities, including food that is prepackaged or prepared in packaging materials and containers in predetermined quantities and bears a uniform mass or volume indication within a certain quantitative limit range. Prepackaged food shall first be prepackaged, and in addition the package shall bear a uniform mass or volume indication. The labeling contents on food packaging shall be truthful and accurate, and food shall not be introduced by means of words, graphics or other methods that are likely to mislead or deceive consumers. When the graphics or words used may mislead consumers, they shall be explained with clear and conspicuous words.

At the same time, the General Rules also require labels to use a specific name that reflects the true nature of the food, including the food name or food category name stipulated in national standards, industry standards and local standards; if there are multiple such names, any one of them may be chosen, or an equivalent name that does not cause ambiguity; where there is no stipulation in the standards, a common name or popular name that can help consumers understand the true nature of the food shall be used.

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362096.html