How to label food additives

Many food in the production and processing process, more or less will add food additives, so how to correctly identify food additives on the food label? This is every enterprise must master, otherwise there will be business risk!

The first food additives should be marked in the "food safety national standard Food additives use standards" (GB 2760-2014) in the general name of food additives.

If the National Standard for the Use of Food Additives for Food Safety (GB 2760-2014) specifies two or more names for a food additive, each name is an equivalent generic name. Take "sodium cyclamate (also known as cyclamate)" as an example, "sodium cyclamate" and "cyclamate" are common names.

The second point should be truthfully labeled the food additives used in the product, but it is not mandatory to establish a "food additive item". On the label of the same prepackaged food, the food additives used can be indicated in one of the following three forms:

1. The name of the food additive does not include its preparation method, such as caramel color produced by ammonia production, common law and ammonium sulfite method, which can be uniformly marked as "caramel color" on the label;

2. All food additives are labeled with the functional category name and international code (INS number), if a food additive does not yet exist the corresponding international code, or because of the need to label allergenic substances, it can be labeled with its specific name, such as "phospholipid" can be expressed as "soybean phospholipid";

3. All the functional category names of food additives are indicated, and the specific names are also indicated. Food additives may have one or more functions, "Food safety national Standard for the use of food additives standards" (GB 2760-2014) lists the main functions of food additives for reference. Production and marketing enterprises shall indicate the name of the functional category on the label according to the actual function of the food additive in the product.

If two or more food additives with the same function are added to the food, they may choose to mark their specific names respectively; Alternatively, you may choose to identify the functional category name first, followed by the respective specific name or international code (INS number).

For example, it may be labeled "carrageenan, guar gum", "Thickener (carrageenan, guar gum)" or "thickener (407,412)".

If a food additive does not have an INS number, it can also be labeled with its specific name.

Example: "Thickener (carrageenan, sodium polyacrylate)" or "Thickener (407, sodium polyacrylate)".

The third point is the labeling of food additives

Each food additive that has a functional role in the end product should be identified in the food ingredient list. If the name of the compound food additive is marked, it should be noted that the naming rules for the compound food additive should comply with the provisions of the General Principles of the National Standard for Food Safety for the Compound Food Additive (GB 26687-2011). It should be "compound" + "Food additive functional class name in GB 2760" or "compound" + "Food category" + "Food additive functional class name in GB 2760", such as compound water retention agent, or compound meat product water retention agent, etc.

For example, a food additive with a compound colorant can be marked as "compound colorant (natural carotene, amaranth)" or directly marked "natural carotene, amaranth" in the ingredients list.

Fourth, labeling of auxiliary materials in food additives

When the excipients contained in food additives do not play a functional role in the final product, they do not need to be labeled in the ingredient list. The auxiliary materials in food additives are food raw materials and food additives added for the processing, storage, standardization, dissolution and other technological purposes of single or compound food additives. These substances do not play a functional role in the food using the food additive and do not need to be labeled in the ingredients.

For example, lutein containing edible vegetable oil, dextrin, antioxidants and other excipients can be directly labeled as "lutein", or "colorant (lutein)" and "colorant (161b)".

The fifth enzyme designation

Enzyme preparations that have lost enzymatic activity in the end product do not need to be labeled; If the enzyme activity is still maintained in the final product, it should be arranged in the corresponding position of the ingredient list in accordance with the relevant provisions of the food ingredient list, according to the amount of enzyme preparation added at the time of manufacturing or processing the food.

For processing AIDS that do not need to be labeled, enzyme preparations, and auxiliary materials that do not play the process in food additives, enterprises can also mark in the ingredient list.

Sixth food nutrition fortifier labeling

Food nutritional supplements should be labeled in accordance with the "Standard for the Use of Food Nutritional Supplements" (GB 14880-2012) or the name announced by the former Health and Family Planning Commission.

Ingredients that can be used either as food additives or food nutritional fortifiers or as other ingredients should be labeled according to the role they play in the end product. When used as a food additive, it shall be labeled with the name specified in the "National Standard for Food Safety Standard for the Use of Food Additives" (GB 2760-2014); When used as a food nutritional supplement, it should be labeled with the name specified in the "Standard for the Use of Food Nutritional Supplement" (GB 14880-2012); When used as other ingredients, their respective specific names should be indicated. For example. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) can be used as a seasoning and can be used as a food additive, when used as a food additive, should be labeled as monosodium glutamate, when used as a seasoning, should be labeled as MSG. dosing