When it comes to food safety standards, every country is different.
We often see in the media reports that "an additive is banned abroad, but China allows it to be used", "an additive is allowed to be used abroad, but China is banned".
So in the end, which "standard" is the most correct?
Image credit: PEXELS
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >Why is there no internationally harmonized food safety standard? </h1>
In fact, food safety standards are the yardstick to protect the health of residents, and they are also the rules that must be observed in food trade.
Whether it is China, Europe, the United States and Japan, or international standards, the fundamental starting point is based on risk control and health protection, and at the same time, we must consider our own national conditions and learn from the international community to maintain the fairness of industrial development and trade.
Therefore, for food safety standards, there is no mandatory provision in the world, but countries are encouraged to formulate national standards that meet their national conditions.
Why are there these differences < h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >? </h1>
Each country has different conditions and situations for food processing, production and consumption, economic development level, import and export trade, etc.
For example, some foods we neither produce nor import, or this food in our dietary structure is minimal, then it is of little significance to formulate its corresponding standards; for example, the staple food of Chinese is rice, and the staple food of Europeans and Americans is flour, so the standards set by China for rice are more stringent.
We can also easily find examples of "an additive is allowed to be used abroad, but prohibited in China", such as flour whitening agents. In fact, for food safety standards, many of China's standards are basically consistent, some are equivalent to the standards of international organizations, and some are consistent with European and American standards.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > 42 new national food safety standards released in 2020</h1>
A few days ago, the National Health and Construction Commission and the State Administration of Market Regulation jointly issued 42 new national food safety standards, which are known as the "most rigorous standards" as soon as the food safety regulations were released, which attracted everyone's attention and attention.
The "National Standard for Food Safety Food Cold Chain Logistics Hygiene Specification" (GB31605-2020) released this time is based on the current situation of China's food cold chain logistics industry, for the purpose of ensuring food safety, with reference to relevant laws and regulations at home and abroad, stipulating the basic requirements in the process of food cold chain logistics, handover, transportation and distribution, storage, personnel and management system, traceability and recall, document management and other aspects of the requirements and management guidelines, applicable to the logistics process that requires temperature control after the food leaves the factory to before sale.
< h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" > new standards to note these changes</h1>
l Production enterprises should pay attention to the requirements of the new standard
(1) The list of excipients allowed in food flavors has changed, adding 3 solvents and carriers, and deleting 7 other excipients. The feeding process of food flavor production enterprises should pay attention to checking the table to confirm whether the excipients are allowed to be used.
(2) The product label of food flavor shall comply with the provisions of GB29924-2013 "National Standard for Food Safety and General Rules for Labeling Food Additives". This standard has detailed requirements for the name and ingredient labeling of food flavors.
(3) The use of food flavors must comply with the requirements of Appendix B of GB 2760-2014. Annex B.1 of the standard lists the foods that are not allowed to add flavors and flavors to food.
l Inspection and testing institutions should pay attention to the changes in the new standards
(1) Arsenic (in As) content requirements have changed, and it is necessary to pay close attention to when testing and judging.
(2) In addition to the addition of the particle size analyzer method (C.4.1.2), the saponification value and the determination method (C.7) of the content of sucrose acetate isobutyrate (C.7), some of the detection methods have been slightly changed, and the detection process should be noted. For example, when performing color profile tests for liquid and paste flavors, the new standard requires "placing the sample in a small beaker of 50 mL or 100 mL", and the old standard was not specified.
Less than half a year from the implementation of the new standard, the relevant production enterprises, testing institutions are familiar with the standard as soon as possible and prepare accordingly according to the requirements!
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