National Standard of the People’s Republic of China

GB 13432-2013

National food safety standard

Labeling of prepackaged foods for special dietary uses

Issued on 2013-12-26 

Implemented on 2015-07-01

Issued by NHFPC

Foreword

This standard replaces GB 13432-2004 “General standard for the labeling of prepackaged foods for special dietary uses”.

Compared with GB 13432-2004, the major changes of this standard are as follows:

––the name of this standard has been revised;

––the definition of “Foods for special dietary uses” has been revised and its food category (scope) has been made clear;

––“Basic requirements” has been revised;

––part of the requirements for “Mandatory labeling information” has been revised;

––“Permitted labeling information” and “Recommended labeling information” have been incorporated and revised to “Optional labeling information”;

––the requirements for “Claim on energy value and nutritional component content” have been revised;

––“Comparative claim on energy value and nutritional component content” has been deleted;

––the words for “Claim on energy and nutritional component function” have been revised;

––Annex A in the previous standard has been deleted;

––“Annex A Category of foods for special dietary uses” has been added.

National food safety standard

Labeling of prepackaged foods for special dietary uses

1 Scope

This standard applies to the labeling of prepackaged foods for special dietary uses (including nutrition labeling).

2 Terms and Definitions

The terms and definitions as specified in GB 7718, as well as the following terms and definitions shall apply to this standard.

2.1 Foods for special dietary uses

Foods for special dietary uses refers to those which are specially processed or formulated to satisfy special dietary requirements under a particular physical or physiological condition and/or under specific diseases and disorders and other conditions. The content of nutrients and/or other nutritional components in these foodstuffs differ significantly from that of comparable ordinary foods.

See Annex A for the category of foods for special dietary uses.

2.2 Nutrients

Nutrients   refer to substances with a specific physiological function, which can maintain the growth, development, activities, breeding and normal metabolism of the human body, including protein, fat, carbohydrate, minerals and vitamins,  etc ..

2.3 Nutritional components

Nutritional components refer to nutrients as well as other components (other than nutrients) with nutritional and/or physiological functions contained in foods.

2.4 Recommended nutrient intake (RNI)

Recommended nutrient intake (RNI) refers to the intake level of nutrient that is sufficient to meet the needs of most individuals in a population with certain gender, age and physiological status.

2.5 Appropriate intake (AI)

Appropriate intake (AI) refers to a safe intake level of nutrients, which is the intake level of a certain nutrient by healthy population obtained via observation or experiment.

3 Basic Requirements

The labeling of prepackaged foods for special dietary uses shall comply with the content of basic requirements specified in GB 7718, as well as the following requirements:

––any claims as to the function of disease prevention and treatment shall be prohibited;

––relevant provisions of labels and instructions specified in corresponding product standards of the prepackaged foods for special dietary uses shall be complied with;

––content claims and functional claims on the essential components in formula foods intended for infants of 0 ~ 6 months shall be prohibited.

4 Mandatory Labeling Information

4.1 General requirements

The labeling information of prepackaged foods for special dietary uses shall comply with the requirements of corresponding provisions in GB 7718.

4.2 The name of the food

“Foods for special dietary uses” or the corresponding name for the description of product characteristics can be only used in the name of the food complying with the definition as stipulated in 2.1.

4.3 Labeling of energy and nutritional components

4.3.1 Energy, protein, fat, carbohydrate and sodium, as well as other nutritional components and their contents required in relevant product standards shall be labeled in the form of “Box table”. The box can be any size, and shall be vertical to the package baseline. The table shall be titled as “Nutritional facts”. For products with optional components added or with certain substances fortified according to relevant regulations or standards, these components and their contents shall be also labeled.

4.3.2 The energy and content of nutritional components in prepackaged foods for special dietary uses shall be labeled as per 100 g (gram) and/or per 100 mL (milliliter) and/or the specific value in edible part per serving of food. When labeling with the serving, the amount per serving of food shall also be declared and the size per serving can be stipulated according to the characteristics of the food or the recommended amount. If it is necessary or as otherwise required in the corresponding product standards, the contents of all nutritional components per 100 kJ (kilojoule) of the product shall be labeled as well.

4.3.3 The labeling values of energy or nutritional components can be obtained by product testing or raw materials calculation. During the shelf life of the product, the actual content of the energy and nutritional components shall not be less than 80% of the labeled value, and shall meet the requirements of the relevant product standards.

4.3.4 When proteins in prepackaged foods for special dietary uses are provided by hydrolyzed protein or amino acids, the item “protein” can be labeled in any one of the following forms such as “protein”, “protein (equivalent)” or “total amino acids content”.

4.4 Instructions for consumption and target population

4.4.1 The instructions for consumption and the intake amount per day or per meal of the prepackaged foods for special dietary uses shall be labeled. If necessary, the preparation method or the rehydration reconstitution method shall also be indicated.

4.4.2 The target population of prepackaged foods for special dietary uses shall be labeled. For infant formula foods for special medical purposes and formula foods for special medical purposes, target population shall be labeled according to the requirements of product standards.

4.5 Storage conditions

4.5.1 Storage condition shall be declared on the label of prepackaged foods for special dietary uses, and the storage condition for opened products shall also be declared, when necessary.

4.5.2 If prepackaged foods for special dietary uses after opening are inappropriate to be stored or stored in the original package container, it shall be declared to consumers with special mentions.

4.6 Exemptions from labeling information

When the maximum surface area of package or package container of the prepackaged foods for special dietary uses is less than 10 cm², it can only have the product name, net content, name and address of manufacturer (or distributor),as well as date of manufacture and shelf life labeled.

5 Optional Labeling Information

5.1 The mass percentage of energy and nutritional components to recommended nutrient intake or adequate intake

In addition to labeling the value of energy and nutritional component contents, the mass percentage of energy and nutritional components per 100 g (gram) and/or per 100 mL (milliliter) and/or per serving of the food to RNI or AI in Chinese DRIs can be labeled according to the target population. Nutritional components without RNI or AI can be exempted from labeling of their mass percentage, or can be labeled with “-” or other ways.

5.2 Claim on energy value and nutritional component content

5.2.1 When the energy value or nutritional component content in the product reaches the minimum amount or the permitted minimum value of fortification stipulated in the relevant product standards, the content claim can be made.

5.2.2 When certain nutritional components in the product have no requirements for the minimum amount or for the permitted minimum value of fortification in the relevant product standards, the basis for the permission of the claims on such nutritional component content from other counties and/or other international organizations shall be provided.

5.2.3 Words of content claim include “contain”, “provide”, “source”, “with”, “have” and so on.

5.3 Functional claim of energy and nutritional components

5.3.1 The prepackaged foods for special dietary uses which conform to the requirements of content claim can make functional claims on their energy and/or nutritional components. Standard words of functional claims stipulated in GB 28050 shall be chosen to use.

5.3.2 For those nutritional components without standard words of functional claims listed in GB 28050, the basis for the permission of the functional claims on such substances from other counties and/or other international organizations shall be provided.

Annex A

Category of foods for special dietary uses

Category of foods for special dietary uses mainly includes:

a）Formula foods for infants and young children:

1）Infant formula foods;

2）Formula foods for older infants and young children;

3）Formula foods for special medical purpose intended for infants;

b）Complementary foods for infants and young children:

1）Cereal-based complementary foods for infants and young children;

2）Canned complementary foods for infants and young children;

c) Formula foods for special medical purposes (other than the food categories involved in “Formula foods for special medical purpose intended for infants”);

d）Other foods for special dietary uses other than the above categories (including complementary nutritional supplements, sports nutritional foods and other foods for special dietary uses with corresponding national standards).