Food Nutrition Labeling System to Be Fully Rolled Out Nationwide Starting Next Year

[ppzhan abstract]

Since January 1, 2013, China's first national food nutrition labeling standard, the General Rules for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods, has been officially implemented. To enable food enterprises to understand the General Rules as quickly as possible and standardize food labels in accordance with the relevant provisions, the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health will, in the next step, spend three years engaging in in-depth interaction with the food industry to drive the implementation of standards related to food nutrition labeling. For foods produced after January 1, 2013, the state will uniformly apply the food nutrition labeling standards stipulated in the General Rules.

Since January 1, 2013, China's first national food nutrition labeling standard, the General Rules for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods, has been officially implemented. The General Rules is the first mandatory national standard on food nutrition labeling and will play a clear role in regulating and guiding the review of nutrition labels on prepackaged foods. The General Rules sets out explicit provisions on the nutrition facts table, nutrient claims and nutrient function claims in nutrition labeling. The mandatory content of the nutrition facts table includes the content values of four core nutrients — energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium — and it also lays down specific quantitative requirements for many nutrient claims and nutrient function claims. After the General Rules takes effect, all foods must carry a nutrition label on their small retail packages, and foods with non-compliant nutrition labels may not be sold. At the same time, the inspection and supervision of nutrition labels on imported foods will have a firmer basis.

According to the General Rules for Nutrition Labeling of Prepackaged Foods (hereinafter referred to as the General Rules) published by the Ministry of Health last week, China will fully implement the food nutrition labeling management system starting next year.

Su Zhi, Director of the Department of Food Safety and Health Supervision of the Ministry of Health, said that after the implementation of the General Rules, the state will uniformly apply the food nutrition labeling standards stipulated in the General Rules to foods produced after January 1, 2013; for foods produced before that date but still on the market, the requirements will be appropriately relaxed, with the provision that such foods may continue to be sold on the market as long as they are within their shelf life.

According to experts, the existing domestic regulations on food nutrition labeling are all quite "broad", and the standards currently applied are mainly based on the Regulations on the Administration of Food Nutrition Labeling, which took effect in May 2008. Starting in 2010, the Ministry of Health began organizing experts to formulate the General Rules. In the process of drafting and revision, it drew fully on the management experience of the Codex Alimentarius Commission and relevant countries, and, in line with the nutritional status of Chinese residents and the requirements for the prevention and treatment of chronic non-communicable diseases, officially released the General Rules in October last year.

According to the General Rules, foods produced by enterprises must indicate on the package label the proportions of four nutrients — protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium — and specific provisions are also made for the labeling, composition, functions and other aspects of the other nutrients contained in foods.

On August 13, the Ministry of Health held a regular press conference. Su Zhi, Director of the Department of Food Safety and Health Supervision of the Ministry of Health, said that at present the vast majority of Chinese residents have noticeably excessive intakes of salt, fat and energy in their diets, and many people will gradually develop chronic non-communicable diseases as a result. After the General Rules takes effect, consumers can, on the basis of the nutrient indicators labeled on the foods they buy, clearly choose healthy products suited to their own characteristics.

Su Zhi also said that, to prepare for the implementation of the General Rules, the Ministry of Health has set a transition period for enterprises to comply with the food nutrition labeling standards. At this stage, food production and operation enterprises are still permitted and encouraged to apply the standard, but from next year the relevant departments will enforce it strictly in accordance with the provisions of the General Rules.

The more specific requirement is that the state will uniformly apply the food nutrition labeling standards stipulated in the General Rules to foods produced after January 1, 2013; for foods produced before that date but still on the market, the requirements will be appropriately relaxed, with the provision that such foods may continue to be sold on the market as long as they are within their shelf life.

On August 17, the Institute of Nutrition and Food Safety under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention of the Ministry of Health held the "National Food Nutrition Labeling Health Education Launch Meeting" in Beijing, announcing that over the next three years it will join hands and interact with Yihai Kerry and other players in the food industry, and, through the production and distribution of public-service graphics and public-service videos, technical training seminars and other activities in various forms, promote a smooth transition and strict implementation of the General Rules.

At the event, an official from the Policy and Regulation Department of the Ministry of Health told our newspaper that the formulation and promotion of food nutrition labeling is one of the important means of advancing healthy food consumption, and that following the launch meeting of the national food nutrition labeling health education campaign, the Ministry of Health would also carry out other forms of activities to strictly enforce the provisions on food nutrition labeling.

Yang Yuexin, a researcher at the National Institute for Nutrition and Food Safety under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told our newspaper that the purpose of jointly holding activities with food industry enterprises is to urge food companies to understand the General Rules as soon as possible and to standardize and institutionalize food labeling in accordance with the relevant provisions as quickly as possible, so as to address food safety, nutrition and other issues at the source of enterprise production.

Tu Changming, Director of the Public Relations Department of Yihai Kerry Group, said that at present the label content of most domestic edible oil enterprises is not sufficiently clear or standardized. Yihai Kerry will launch an industry "letter of commitment" urging enterprises to strictly implement the new food nutrition labeling rules, and will help drive the standardization and regulation of food labeling across the entire edible oil industry through means such as producing public-interest promotional graphics.

— This article is reposted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn). Original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362043.html