● How to distinguish labels and advertisements on food packaging

When consumers buy food, they will naturally be attracted by some text and graphics on the packaging, and these packaging The text and graphics on it sometimes look a bit "advertising", but they also feel like they belong to food labels, and I'm often "confused" about this. Is it a label or an advertisement?

According to the definition of food labels in the "General Principles for Prepackaged Food Labeling" (GB 7718-2011): "Food labels refer to the text, graphics, symbols and all instructions on food packaging."

Article 2 of the "Advertising Law" stipulates: "Within the territory of the People's Republic of China, commodity operators or service providers directly or indirectly introduce the goods or services they promote through certain media and forms. This law shall apply to advertising activities.” In other words, if the words, graphics, and symbols used on food labels have the function of promoting goods, they are communication media and meet the connotation of “advertising.” The text, graphics and other promotional terms on some food labels may themselves be promotional terms for their advertising. It can be seen that food labels may "compete" with advertising. That is, the words, graphics and symbols on food packaging may be labels or advertisements.

Article 71 of the "Food Safety Law" stipulates that labels and instructions for food and food additives must not contain false content or involve disease prevention or treatment functions. Article 73 of the Law stipulates that the content of food advertisements must be true and legal, must not contain false content, and must not involve disease prevention or treatment functions. Articles 78 and 79 also have similar provisions on health products. Obviously, the separate provisions on "labeling" and "advertising" of food and health food indicate that the two are in a parallel position, and there will also be differences in the application of laws regarding penalties for illegal false advertising. Therefore, the Food Safety Law regulates these two The legal liability part is also stipulated separately.

● Standards for packaging labels of food and health care products

Whether it is in the production field or sales field, whether it is a production enterprise or a food operator, it is possible that the labeling on food and health food packaging labeling and advertising issues, facing administrative penalties and litigation. If you only focus on product quality control and ensure food safety, while ignoring the "external needs" of food and being "indiscreet" in food packaging, it will easily bring losses to the company, including fines, reputation, operations and other aspects. Therefore, it is crucial to promptly grasp some legal and regulatory requirements for food packaging labels, act in accordance with the regulations, and conduct pre-reviews of packaging materials and production reviews. As a food regulatory authority, it is also "imperative" to strengthen food packaging labels and advertising knowledge. Here, the author excerpts the content on food and health food packaging labels and advertisements that may involve complaints and reports in the "hardest-hit areas". The labeling regulations that are most likely to be "forgotten" are listed in sections for reference.

(1) Requirements for labeling content on food packaging

1. Mark "newly created name", "unique name", "transliterated name", "brand name", "region" When there are names such as "slang names" or "trademark names" that are likely to misunderstand the attributes of the food, a name or classification (generic) name stipulated in national standards or industry standards should be marked in the same font size adjacent to the name. For foods that are physically mixed with two or more foods and have a uniform appearance that is difficult to separate from each other, the name should reflect the mixed attributes and classification (genus) name of the food; it is made from animal and plant foods as raw materials, using specific Foods made with special processing techniques to imitate the characteristics of individuals, organs, tissues, etc. of other living things should be preceded by the words “artificial”, “imitation” or “vegetarian”, and the classification of the true attributes of the food ( generic) name.

2. Food labels should indicate the place of origin of the food (no matter whether the place of origin of the food is consistent with the address of the producer, it is a must-label item), and the place of origin of the food should be marked to the prefecture-level region (municipality directly under the Central Government) according to the administrative division. , cities under separate state planning and other sub-provincial and prefecture-level cities).

3. Food labels should indicate the name, address and contact information of the producer.

The name and address of the producer shall be that of a producer registered in accordance with the law and able to assume responsibility for product quality.

4. Food labels should clearly indicate the production date and shelf life of the food, and indicate storage conditions in accordance with relevant regulations. Beverage wine, vinegar, edible salt, and solid sugar with an ethanol content of more than 10% (including 10%) are exempt from labeling the shelf life. The date marking method should comply with national standards or use "year, month, day" expression.

5. Labeling of quantitatively packaged foods should indicate the net content and specifications in accordance with relevant regulations. For foods containing solid and liquid two-phase substances, in addition to the net content, the content of drained matter (solid matter) should also be marked. The net content should be displayed on the same display page of the food package as the food name. The labeling of net content shall comply with the provisions of the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Measurement of Quantitative Packaged Commodities.

6. Food labels should indicate the ingredients or ingredient list of the food. The various ingredients in the ingredient list should be labeled in descending order of the amount added during the production and processing of food. Ingredients added in prepackaged foods that do not exceed 2 do not need to be listed in descending order. The specific labeling method shall be implemented in accordance with the provisions of national standards. For compound ingredients, they should be labeled in the ingredient list in descending order with other ingredients in accordance with the labeling requirements stipulated in relevant national standards. If so-called "composite additives" are used, each of its composite ingredients and other directly used food additives should be labeled in descending order of the amount added under the food additives category. If sweeteners, preservatives, and colorants are used directly in food, the specific names should be marked under the food additives in the ingredient list; if other food additives are used, the specific names, types, or codes can be marked. The scope and amount of use of food additives should be in accordance with national standards. Food additives used directly in food do not include food additives contained in ingredients other than food additives added during the production of processed foods. Nutritional enhancers, food spices, and base substances in gum-based candies may not be labeled under food additives but in the ingredient list. Processing aids do not need to be marked in the ingredient list. The labels of main and supplementary foods designed for infants and other specific groups of people should also indicate the main nutritional ingredients and their contents.

7. Food labels should be marked with the national standards, industry standards, local standard numbers implemented by the enterprise or the registered enterprise standard number.

8. If the food implementation standards clearly require the labeling of the quality grade and processing technology of the food, they should be labeled accordingly.

9. For foods subject to production license management, food producers who have newly obtained or renewed their licenses shall mark the new food production license number on the food packaging or label, and no longer mark the "QS" mark. . Starting from October 1, 2018, food produced by food producers shall no longer use the original packaging, labels and "QS" logo. For foods that are entrusted to be produced and processed under production license management, if the entrusting enterprise has its entrusted processing food production license, the production license number of the entrusting enterprise or the entrusted enterprise can be marked.

10. If mixed non-edible products are likely to cause accidental ingestion, improper use, or personal injury, warning signs or Chinese warning instructions should be marked on the labels.

11. If food has any of the following circumstances, a Chinese explanation should be marked on its label:

(1) Medical clinical evidence has shown that it is likely to cause harm to special groups;

(2) Treated with ionizing radiation or ionizing energy;

(3) Genetically modified food or containing legal genetically modified raw materials;

(4) In accordance with the law, Regulations, national standards and other regulations should be marked with other Chinese explanations.

12. Imported prepackaged foods and food additives should have Chinese labels; if there should be instructions in accordance with the law, they should also have Chinese instructions. Label instructions should comply with the Food Safety Law and other laws, administrative regulations and national food safety standards, and state the origin of the food and the name, address and contact information of the domestic agent. Prepackaged foods without Chinese labels or Chinese instructions, or if the labels and instructions do not comply with regulations, shall not be imported.

13. The labels of prepackaged special dietary foods should comply with the basic requirements stipulated in GB7718-2011, and should also meet the following requirements:

(1) It should not involve disease prevention , therapeutic function;

(2) Should comply with the relevant provisions on labels and instructions in the corresponding product standards for prepackaged special dietary foods;

(3) Should not be used for children aged 0-6 months Essential ingredients in infant formula are subject to content claims and function claims.