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New Rule Exempts Use By Dates From Four Types of Food |
The Administrative Provisions on Food Labelling recently promulgated by the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine will come into force on 1 September 2008. Under the new rule, use by dates will not be required for four types of food with an ethanol content of 10% or over. |
The new provisions govern the content and format of labels for food products and include a number of additional requirements, such as place of manufacture, name of repacker, warning message and minimum units for sale. Chinese explanations must be given if the food has been clinically proven to be harmful to special groups, has been treated with ionizing radiation or energy, is genetically modified (GM) or contains legal GM raw materials, and is required by law, regulations and national standards to show other explanations in Chinese. Food that uses words like "nourishing" and "strengthening" in their name or explanation must indicate the vitamin content and calories in its labelling. |
The new rule requires that food labels clearly indicate the date of production and use by date. If the use by date has to do with storage, the special storage conditions should also be indicated. Alcoholic beverages, edible vinegar, edible salt and sugar in solid form that have an ethanol content of 10% or over, are exempted from use by dates. The dates should be indicated in a manner that complies with national standards or in the "year/month/date" format.
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Seven types of content are prohibited from use on food labels, including expressed or implied claims that the product may be used for the prevention or treatment of diseases; expressed or implied claims that the product has health care functions when it is not a health care product; fraudulent or misleading ways of describing or introducing a type of food; and additional product notes that cannot be justified. Quality inspection departments will order violators to make rectification before a stipulated date. Those who fail to make rectifications after the due date will be fined up to Rmb10,000. Those who violate laws and regulations will be dealt with accordingly. |
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