According to Youxi County Radio and Television Station: Many foods have more or less food additives added during the production and processing process. , so how to correctly label food additives on food labels? It is something that every enterprise must master, otherwise there will be business risks!
Today I will summarize for you how to correctly label food additives on food labels. I hope it will help The majority of food companies are helpful and welcome everyone’s corrections and exchanges.
The first point: Food additives should be labeled with the “National Food Safety Standards for the Use of Food Additives” (GB2760-2014) Common names of food additives in .
If the “National Food Safety Standards for the Use of Food Additives” (GB2760-2014) stipulates two or more names for a food additive, each name is an equivalent generic name. name. Take “sodium cyclohexyl sulfamate (also known as cyclamate)” as an example. “Sodium cyclohexyl sulfamate” and “cyclamate” are both common names.
Second point: Food additives used in products should be truthfully labeled, 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 marked in one of the following three forms:
First, all the specific names of the food additives are marked. The name does not include its production method, such as caramel color produced by ammonia production, common method, and ammonium sulfite method, which can be uniformly marked as “caramel color” on the label;
Second, all food additives are labeled Functional category name and international code (INS number). If a certain food additive does not yet have a corresponding international code, or if it is required for allergen labeling, its specific name can be indicated. For example, “phospholipid” can be expressed as “soy phospholipid”;
Third, all functional category names of food additives should be marked, and the specific names should be marked at the same time. Food additives may have one or more functions. The “National Food Safety Standard for the Use of Food Additives” (GB2760-2014) lists the main functions of food additives for reference. Production and operation enterprises shall indicate the functional category name on the label according to the actual function of the food additive in the product. For example: The food additive “propylene glycol” can be labeled as: 1 propylene glycol; 2 thickener (1520); 3 thickener (propylene glycol).
If two or more food additives with the same function are added to food, you can choose to label their specific names respectively; or you can choose to label the functional category name first, and then label their specific names or international codes. (INS number). For example: it can be labeled as “carrageenan, guar gum”, “thickener (carrageenan, guar gum)” or “thickener (407, 412)”. If a certain food additive does not have an INS number, its specific name can be marked at the same time. Example: “Thickener (carrageenan, sodium polyacrylate)” or “Thickener (407, sodium polyacrylate)”.
The third point: the labeling of compound food additives
should be listed one by one in the food ingredient list Label each food additive that has a functional role in the final product. If the name of compound food additives is marked, it should be noted that the naming rules of compound food additives should comply with the provisions of the “National Food Safety Standard General Principles of Compound Food Additives” (GB26687-2011). It should be “compound” + “name of functional category of food additives in GB2760” or “compound” + “food category” + “name of functional category of food additives in GB2760”, such as compound moisture retaining agent, or compound moisture content of meat products Preservatives, etc. For example, if a food additive contains a compound colorant, it can be labeled as “compound colorant (natural carotene, amaranth)” or directly label “natural carotene, amaranth” in the ingredient list.
The fourth point: Labeling of excipients in food additives
The excipients contained in food additives are not in the final product When it plays a functional role, it does not need to be marked in the ingredient list. Excipients in food additives are food raw materials and food additives added for the processing, storage, standardization, dissolution and other process purposes of single or compound food additives. These substances do not play a functional role in the food using this food additive and do not need to be declared in the ingredients. For example, lutein containing edible vegetable oil, dextrin, antioxidants and other excipients can be directly labeled as “lutein”, or “coloring agent (lutein)” or “coloring agent (161b)”.
The fifth point: Labeling of enzyme preparations
If the enzyme preparation has lost the enzyme in the final product If the enzyme activity is active, no labeling is required; if the enzyme activity is still maintained in the final product, it should be arranged in the corresponding position in the ingredient list according to the amount of enzyme preparation added when manufacturing or processing the food, in accordance with the relevant regulations on the labeling of food ingredients. For processing aids, enzyme preparations, and auxiliary materials in food additives that do not play a role in the process that do not need to be labeled, companies can also label them in the ingredient list.
Point 6: Labeling of food nutrition fortifiers
Food nutrition fortifiers should be labeled in accordance with the “Standards for the Use of Food Nutritional Fortifiers” (GB14880-2012) or the names announced by the former National Health and Family Planning Commission.
Ingredients that can be used as food additives or food nutrition fortifiers as well as other ingredients should be labeled according to their role in the final product. When used as a food additive, it should be labeled with the name specified in the “National Food Safety Standard for the Use of Food Additives” (GB2760-2014); when used as a food nutritional fortifier, it should be labeled with the name specified in the “Usage Standard for Food Nutritional Enhancers” (GB14880-2012); when it functions as other ingredients, its corresponding specific name should be marked. For example. MSG (monosodium glutamate) can be used as both a condiment and a food additive. When used as a food additive, it should be labeled as sodium glutamate. When used as a condiment, it should be labeled as MSG.