Frequently Asked Questions About Food Ingredient List Labeling

water sign

During food manufacturing or processing, water added should be declared in the ingredient list

For example, the foods that need to be labeled for water include: beverages, tofu, wet rice noodles, frozen drinks, steamed buns,

Foods that do not need to be labeled with water include: biscuits, shortbread, puffed food,

Labeling of enzyme auxiliaries

If the enzyme preparation has lost the enzyme activity in the final product, it does not need to be labeled; if the enzyme preparation still maintains the enzyme activity in the final product, it should be in accordance with the relevant regulations indicated in the food ingredients table, and the amount of enzyme preparation added when manufacturing or processing food.

Labelling of compound ingredients

When the compound ingredients directly added to the food have national standards, industry standards, or local standards, and the added amount is less than 25% of the total food, the food additives are in line with the introduction principle of GB 2760 and cannot be used in the final product.

If there is soy sauce in the ingredients of canned braised beef, and the sodium benzoate brought in by soy sauce has no preservative effect in the final product, it is not necessary to indicate it in the ingredient list of canned braised beef

Another example is a product whose food name is salt-baked chicken.

Labeling

Each food additive that has a functional role in the final product should be listed in the food ingredient list

For example, couscous: Ingredients: whole wheat flour, flour, oats, white sugar, white sesame seeds, peanuts, melon seeds, shredded coconut, water, yeast, compound food additives: baking powder (sodium bicarbonate, calcium dihydrogen phosphate, corn starch, disodium dihydrogen pyrophosphate, potassium tartrate)

format of names

The labels of the ingredients in the ingredient list should be clear, easy to identify and read, and the ingredients can be separated by commas, semicolons, spaces and other easy-to-distinguish ways

In the picture above, the food additive (potassium sorbate) is one of the ingredients, so it is illegal to label it separately

Quantitative labeling of ingredients

In the picture above, Ejiao only appears in the name of the food, and it is not emphasized in the label.