What are the rules in the food ingredient list?

1. The ingredients list should not only indicate the function of additives, such as "colorant" and "thickener"; If it is labeled as the functional category name of food additives, it shall be labeled according to the functions specified in GB2760.

2. The basic substances in nutritional fortifiers, edible flavors and fragrances, and gum sugar can be marked outside the food additives in the ingredient list.

How to correctly label the ingredient list of food labels?

All kinds of regulations need to be clear. The labeling regulations of food label ingredient list involve Food Label Management Regulations (revised in 2009), General Rules for Labeling National Food Safety Standards in prepackaged foods (GB 7718-2011) and National Food Safety Standards for the Use of Food Nutrition Fortifiers (GB140). However, when the maximum surface area of food packaging is less than 10 cm2, the ingredient list can be omitted.

General requirements for ingredient labels

All the ingredients in the ingredient list should be marked with specific names to reflect the true attributes of the ingredients. If the ingredients have the names specified in national standards, industrial standards or local standards, one of them should be selected, or a name equivalent to it, otherwise a common name or a popular name should be used. For example, if there are ingredients in the national standard, salt should be labeled as "edible salt", soy sauce should be labeled as "brewing soy sauce and preparing soy sauce", and chicken essence should be labeled as "chicken essence seasoning".

When making or processing food, all kinds of ingredients should be arranged in descending order, and ingredients with less than 2% addition can be arranged in no descending order.

1. Labels of food additives

The generic names of food additives should be marked in GB2760, but "food additives" are not mandatory.

If "food additives" are set up in the ingredient list, there are four labeling principles: First, the food additives directly used should be marked in the food additives.

Second, the basic substances in nutritional fortifiers, edible flavors and fragrances, and gum sugar can be labeled outside food additives.

Third, indirect food additives (brought in) are not marked in the item of food additives. For example, "food additives (potassium sorbate, dehydroacetic acid, carrageenan), soy sauce (including caramel color)", the caramel color of food additives is brought by soy sauce, not direct food additives, so it is not marked in the item of food additives.

Fourthly, the labeling order of food additives in the ingredient list is determined according to the total weight of various food additives to be included in the item.

Every food additive that plays a role in the final product should be indicated in the food ingredient list. When the auxiliary materials contained in food additives do not play a functional role in the final product, they do not need to be marked in the ingredient list.

Where sweeteners, preservatives and colorants are directly used in food, the specific names shall be marked under food additives in the ingredient list.

2. Labeling of compound food additives

Compound food additives are made by mixing two or more single food additives (auxiliary materials can be added) by physical methods.

Naming principles of compound food additives;

First, it is composed of food additives with single function and the same function, and should be named according to its role in end food. That is, the functional category name of food additives in "compound"+"GB 2760". Such as "compound preservative" and "compound colorant".

Second, it is made of a variety of food additives with the same function or different functions. It can be named after all its functions or main functions in terminal food, that is, "compounding"+"functional category name of food additives in GB 2760", or it can be added to the naming, that is, "compounding"+"food category name of food additives in GB 2760", for example.

The third is the labeling of compound food additives in the ingredient list. Compound food additives directly added to food can be marked under the heading of food additives together with other directly used food additives, and arranged in descending order of addition amount.

3. Labeling of nutritional fortifiers

The food nutrition fortifier shall be marked according to the national food safety standard "Specification for the Use of Food Nutrition Fortifier" (GB 14880-20 12) or the name in the announcement of the former Health Planning Commission.

Marking can be done in any of the following three ways:

One is to mark the name of the compound;

The second is to indicate the name of the nutrient or the name of the compound;

The third is to mark the names of nutrients.

Ingredients that can be used as food additives and nutritional fortifiers and other ingredients should be labeled according to their functions in the final product. As a food additive, the name specified in GB2760 should be marked; When used as a food nutrition fortifier, the name specified in GB 14880-20 12 shall be marked; If other ingredients play a role, their specific names should be indicated.

4. Labeling of compound components

If an ingredient is a compound ingredient consisting of two or more other ingredients (excluding compound food additives), the name of the compound ingredient should be marked in the ingredient list, and then the original ingredients of the compound ingredient should be marked in brackets in descending order of addition. When a compound ingredient has national standards, industrial standards or local standards, and its addition amount is less than 25% of the total food, the original ingredient of the compound ingredient may not be marked. For example, a product named "Salt Chicken" has no corresponding national, industrial or local standards, so the label of ingredients should be "Chicken, Salt Chicken (edible salt, sodium glutamate, corn starch, galangal)".

The food additives in the compound ingredients that play a technological role in the final product should be marked. The recommended labeling method is to put brackets after the names of compound ingredients, and the common names of food additives should be labeled in brackets. For example, soy sauce should be labeled "soy sauce (including caramel color)".

Food additives in compound ingredients that do not play a technical role in the final product do not need to be labeled. If there is soy sauce in the ingredients of canned braised beef, and the sodium benzoate brought by soy sauce has no antiseptic effect in the final product, it is not necessary to indicate it in the ingredient list of canned braised beef.

5. Quantitative labeling of ingredients

There is no requirement for quantitative labeling of ingredients or ingredients: when a certain ingredient or ingredient is mentioned in the food name only to reflect the real attributes of the food without special emphasis on the label, the added amount or content of the ingredient or ingredient in the finished product can be omitted; A certain ingredient or ingredient mentioned in the food name is not particularly emphasized on the label, and it is not necessary to indicate the added amount of the ingredient or ingredient or the content in the finished product; Only emphasize the taste of food, so there is no need for quantitative labeling.

The content of ingredients should be indicated: if one or more valuable and distinctive ingredients or ingredients are emphasized in the food label or instruction manual, the addition amount or the content in the finished product should be indicated at the same time, for example, the label or instruction manual emphasizes high calcium and rich amino acids. If the food label emphasizes that the content of one or more ingredients or ingredients is "low" or "no", it should also indicate their content in the final product, such as "sugar-free", "low sugar", "low fat" and "salt-free".

6. Labels of other special ingredients

The label of edible fungi strains should be marked with the strain name according to the requirements of General Rules for Labeling in prepackaged foods and the national food safety standards, and the corresponding strain number and strain content can be marked at the same time.

The labeling of sulfur dioxide in wine is based on the General Principles and Fermented Wine and Its Blended Wine (GB2758-20 12). Wine produced, imported and used with food additive sulfur dioxide after August 20 13 should be labeled as "sulfur dioxide" or "trace sulfur dioxide and sulfur dioxide".

When vegetable oil is used as an ingredient, one of the following forms can be selected for marking:

One is to indicate the specific source of vegetable oil, such as sunflower seed oil, palm oil and soybean oil. You can also mark the name specified in the corresponding national standards, industry standards or local standards. If the vegetable oil used consists of two or more vegetable oils from different sources, it should be marked in descending order of addition.

Second, it is marked as "vegetable oil" and "refined vegetable oil", and the position in the ingredient list is determined according to the total amount added. If the vegetable oil used is hydrogenated and there are relevant national, industrial or local standards, it should be labeled as "hydrogenated vegetable oil" or "partially hydrogenated vegetable oil" according to the actual situation, and the corresponding product standard name should be labeled, such as "edible hydrogenated palm oil".

Legal basis:

People's Republic of China (PRC) Food Safety Law

Article 67

There should be a label on the package in prepackaged foods. The label shall indicate the following contents:

(1) Name, specification, net content and production date;

(2) List of ingredients or ingredients;

(3) The name, address and contact information of the producer;

(4) shelf life;

(5) product standard code;

(6) storage conditions;

(7) Generic names of food additives used in national standards;

(eight) the production license number;

(nine) other matters that should be marked as prescribed by laws, regulations or food safety standards.

The labels of main and supplementary foods specially designed for infants and other specific groups should also indicate the main nutritional components and their contents. Where the national food safety standards have other provisions on labeling matters, such provisions shall prevail.