Category: Business/Financial Management

Analysis:

General Standard for Food Labeling

GB 7718—1994

1 Subject content and scope of application

This standard specifies the basic principles, labeling content and labeling requirements for food labeling.

This standard applies to the labels of prepackaged foods sold domestically.

2 Reference Standards

GB 2760 Hygienic Standards for the Use of Food Additives

GB 13432 Special Nutritional Food Labels

3 Terminology

3.1 Food labels

The text, graphics, symbols, and all instructions on prepackaged food containers.

3.2 Prepackaged food

Food that is prepackaged in containers to prepare for delivery to consumers.

3.3 Container

Any form of packaging in which food is fully or partially packaged as a delivery unit, including wrapping paper.

3.4 Food additives

Chemically synthesized substances or natural substances added to food in order to improve the quality, color, aroma and taste of food, as well as for the needs of preservation and processing technology. .

3.5 Ingredients

Any substance used in the manufacture or processing of food and present (including in modified form) in the final product. Includes water and food additives.

3.6 Shelf life (best before consumption period)

Refers to the period during which food quality (quality) is maintained under the conditions specified on the label. During this period, the food is fully suitable for sale and meets the quality (quality) specified on the label or in the product standard; beyond this period, the food is still edible for a certain period of time.

3.7 Shelf life (recommended final consumption period)

Refers to the final date when food can be eaten under the conditions specified on the label; beyond this period, product quality (quality ) may change so that the food is no longer suitable for sale.

3.8 Solids

The solid part of food containing solid and liquid two-phase substances, excluding soluble solids.

4 Basic Principles

4.1 All contents of food labels shall not describe or introduce food in a wrong, misleading or deceptive manner.

4.2 All contents of food labels shall not use directly or indirectly suggestive language, graphics, or symbols that may cause consumers to confuse a food or a certain property of a food with another product.

4.3 All contents of food labels must comply with national laws and regulations, and comply with the provisions of corresponding product standards.

4.4 All contents of food labels must be easy to understand, accurate and scientific.

5 Contents must be labeled

5.1 Food name

5.1.1 Special names must be used to indicate the true attributes of the food.

5.1.1.1 When one or several names of a certain food are specified in national standards or industry standards, one of them should be selected.

5.1.1.2 If there is no name specified above, a common name or common name that will not misunderstand or confuse consumers must be used.

5.1.2 When using a "newly created name", "unique name", "brand name" or "trademark name", any one of the names specified in Article 5.1.1 must be used at the same time name.

5.1.3 In order to avoid consumers from misunderstanding or confusing the true attributes, physical state and preparation methods of food, corresponding words or phrases can be appended before the food name or marked after the food name.

5.2 Ingredient list

5.2.1 Except for foods with a single ingredient, the ingredient list must be indicated on the food label.

5.2.1.1 The title of the ingredient list is "Ingredients" or "Ingredients List".

5.2.1.2 Various ingredients must be arranged one by one in decreasing order of adding amount.

5.2.1.3 If an ingredient is a compound ingredient composed of two or more other ingredients, the name of the compound ingredient must be indicated in the ingredient list, followed by Add parentheses and list the original ingredients in descending order of the amount added. When the compound ingredients have specified names in national standards or industry standards, and the added amount is less than 25% of the total food, it is not necessary to label the original ingredients, but the food additives must be labeled.

5.2.2 Various ingredients must use specific names according to the provisions of Article 5.1. Food additives must use the product name or category name specified in GB 2760.

5.2.3 When the raw materials used during processing have been changed into other components (referring to fermented products, such as wine, soy sauce, vinegar, etc.), in order to indicate the essential attributes of the product, "raw materials" can be used Or "raw materials and ingredients" instead of "ingredients", and label according to the provisions of Article 5.2.1.2.

5.3 Net content and solid content

5.3.1 The net content of the food in the container must be marked in the following manner:

a ． For liquid food, use volume;

b. For solid food, use mass;

c. For semi-solid food, use mass or volume.

5.3.2 For food containing solid and liquid two-phase substances in the container, in addition to the net content, the solid content of the food must also be marked, expressed in mass or percentage.

5.3.3 If the same container contains several independent items of food of the same quality and similar shape, the quantity of the food must also be indicated in addition to the net content.

5.4 The names and addresses of manufacturers and distributors must indicate the names and addresses of food manufacturing, packaging, repackaging or sales units registered in accordance with the law.

Imported food must be marked with the name of the country and region of origin (referring to Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) and the name and address of the general distributor registered in accordance with the law in the country

5.5 Date mark and storage instructions

5.5.1 The production date, shelf life or/and storage period of the food must be marked.

5.5.1.1 The order of marking dates is year, month and day.

5.5.1.2 One of the following methods can be used to indicate the shelf life or storage period:

a. "Best by", or "Best by" (for shelf life);

"Best by", or "Best by" ” (for shelf life);

“Eat before…”, or “Drink before…” (for shelf life).

b. "Shelf life until...";

"Shelf life until...";

c. "Shelf life...months".

"Shelf life...months".

5.5.2 If the shelf life or shelf life of food is related to storage conditions, the storage method of the food must be indicated.

5.6 Quality (quality) grade

For foods with clearly specified quality (quality) grade in product standards (national standards, industry standards), the quality grade of the food must be indicated.

5.7 Product standard number

The code and sequence number of the national standard, industry standard or enterprise standard of the product must be indicated.

5.8 Special labeling content

5.8.1 Foods that have been treated with ionizing radiation or ionizing energy must be labeled "irradiated food" near the food name.

5.8.2 Any ingredients that have been treated with ionizing radiation or ionizing energy must be stated in the ingredient list.

6 Exemptions from labeling are allowed

6.1 When the maximum surface area of ??the container is less than 10cm2, except for spices and food additives, 5.2 and 5.5~ can be exempted. 5. Contents of Article 7.

6.2 Foods with a shelf life or storage period of more than 18 months that have been clearly stipulated in product standards (national standards, industry standards) can be exempted from the shelf life or storage period.

6.3 Imported food can be exempted from the name, address and product standard number of the original manufacturer.

7 Recommended labeling content

7.1 Batch number

The food production or packaging unit shall determine the method by itself to indicate the production (packaging) batch number of the food .

7.2 How to eat

In order to ensure the correct consumption of food, the label can indicate how to open the container, how to eat, recommended daily intake, and how to cook and prepare the food. and other instructions that are helpful to consumers. If necessary, separate instructions can be added to the label.

7.3 Calories and nutrients

The content of calories and nutrients can be indicated according to the provisions of GB 13432.

8 Basic Requirements

8.1 Food labels shall not be separated from packaging containers.

8.2 All contents of food labels must not become blurred or even fall off during the circulation process; they must be eye-catching, easy to identify and read by consumers when purchasing and eating.

8.3 All contents on food labels must be clear, concise and eye-catching. Text, symbols, and graphics should be intuitive and easy to understand, and the background and background should be in contrasting colors.

8.4 The name of the food must be in a prominent position on the label. Food name and net content should be arranged in the same field of view.

8.5 The text used on food labels must be standard Chinese characters.

8.5.1 You can use Chinese Pinyin at the same time, but it must be spelled correctly, and the corresponding Chinese characters for Prince are not allowed.

8.5.2 Ethnic minority scripts or foreign languages ??can be used at the same time, but they must have a close correspondence with Chinese characters, and foreign languages ??must not be larger than the corresponding Chinese characters.

8.6 The measurement units used in food labels must be based on the national legal measurement units, such as:

Mass unit: g or gram, kg or kilogram;

Volume unit: mL, ml or milliliter, L or liter.

Additional notes:

This standard was proposed by the National Food Industry Standardization Technical Committee.

This standard is drafted by a drafting working group organized by the National Food Industry Standardization Technical Committee.

The main drafters of this standard are Du Peng, Pei Shan, Li Zhiqiang, Li Jiarui, Chen Yaojun, Hao Shen and Li Hongbing.

This standard refers to the FAO/WHO Food Regulation Committee (CAc) CODEX STAN 1-1991 "General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods".