Recently, in order to optimize the management of prepackaged food labels, the National Health Commission is organizing the research and pilot work of the digitization of prepackaged food labels. The China National Center for Food Safety Risk Assessment is organizing the revision of the National Food Safety Standard General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods to clarify the application of digital labels.
Taiwan, China has management requirements similar to the "food digital label", which have been promoted and applied in prepackaged foods, ready-to-eat fresh food in bulk, and ready-to-serve beverages. Antion has sorted out and introduced it, hoping to help enterprises have a preliminary understanding.
01 Categories of application of "food digital label"
1. Prepackaged foods
In accordance with Taiwan's Regulations of Exemption from Labeling for Small Packaged Foods (hereinafter referred to as the Regulations), when the packaging area of prepackaged foods is less than 20 square centimeters, the form of "digital labels" can be used.
When the packaging area of prepackaged food label in Taiwan, China is less than 20 square centimeters, the full label content can be exempted from marking. According to the Regulations, only "product name, expiration date, manufacturer name and phone number, place of origin, allergen and other warning information" may be marked. On the basis of text form, the Regulations proposes to use the form of "digital label" to display the content in addition to the product name and expiration date: ingredients, net content, manufacturer information, place of origin, nutrition label, genetically modified information, and items required to be marked in the announcement of the regulatory agency.
The label may be in the form of a "QR Code" or an electronic marker, and a similar statement "Scan here for product information" is required near the "QR Code". The use of "digital label" can show more and more complete product content, without considering the limitation of the package panel.
2. Ready-to-eat fresh food in bulk
In Taiwan, China, it is mandatory to mark ready-to-eat fresh food in bulk with ingredients, net content, manufacturer information and expiration date. For voluntary nutrition labeling, a "QR Code" or electronic marker is allowed, with a similar statement "Scan here for product information".
The barcode of the "QR Code" can be attached to the original package, and there is no fixed limit on the size. The official suggests that the font size and font type on the web page obtained after scanning code should be clearly identified, and no further requirements are made on it.
3. Ready-to-serve beverages
The Regulations on the Labeling of Ready-to-serve Beverages in Chain Beverage Convenience Stores and Fast-Food Industry requires mandatory labeling information for ready-to-serve beverages. For example, those made and sold with caffeine need to be distinguished caffeine content with red, yellow and green; products prepared with concentrated liquid such as tea need to be marked the place (country) of origin of tea. In addition to the traditional menus, cards and signs, these mandatory labeling contents are officially allowed to use a "QR Code" or electronic marker from 2023. Convenience stores or business enterprises can paste the barcode information in the store or on the cup body, and in the store display, the circular length and width is recommended to be no less than 10 cm, and the circular length and width of the cup body is recommended to be no less than 2 cm.
02 Conclusion
The promotion of food digital label is an important measure for the scientific management of food label, which can enable consumers and food enterprises to fully interact and reduce label printing to reduce the negative impact on the environment. Considering that some elderly people are not convenient to scan the code to obtain the label content, and it is not convenient to retain evidence for the illegal content, how to choose to display the label content and the applicable food category still need multiple management departments to explore and evaluate. Antion hopes to help enterprises understand by sharing the management method of "food digital label" in Taiwan, China. Please contact us if you have relevant import and export compliance problems of label ingredients.
Source: Antion
Note: This article is compiled by Antion. Please indicate the source for reprint.