Q&A|How should Imported Prepackaged Food be Labeled?

Date: 2020-Oct-16 Source:HNC View: 1316

Imported prepackaged food labeling can be used simultaneously in Chinese and foreign languages, it can also be used simultaneously in traditional Chinese characters. The mandatory labeling content indicated in National Food Safety Standard General Rules for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods (GB 7718-2011) should be fully labeled, the recommended labeling content can be selected to labeled. If both of Chinese and foreign languages are used on imported prepackaged food, the foreign language should correspond to the content of the Chinese mandatory labeling and optional labeling, that is, the meaning of the Chinese and the foreign language should be basically the same, and the foreign font size should not be greater than the corresponding Chinese character size. For the special packaging shape of imported food, on the same display surface, the height of the Chinese font should not be less than the font height of the corresponding content in foreign languages.

In the case of labeling by adding Chinese label to the original imported prepackaged food packaging, the Chinese label should be marked in accordance with National Food Safety Standard General Rules for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods (GB 7718-2011); the graphics and symbols of the original foreign language label should not violate GB 7718 and relevant laws and regulations.

The contents of the foreign language ingredients list of imported prepackaged food should have corresponding contents in the Chinese ingredients list. The ingredient, which should be labeled in the ingredient list according to the Chinese laws, regulations and standards, should be labeled in the ingredients list of Chinese label even though it’s not labeled in the ingredient list of original foreign label (including added water and simple ingredient in the food manufacturing process).

Imported prepackaged food should be labeled with the name of the country or region of origin, as well as the name, address and contact information of the agent, importer or distributor legally registered in China; the name, address and contact information of the producer may not be indicated. The name and address of producer in the original language does not need to be translated into Chinese.