Food industry news of the week: freshly made yogurt is natural ≠ healthy, and the new national standard for food additives is released

Freshly made yogurt is "natural" ≠ healthy

At present, the concept of "healthy" and "natural" ready-made yogurt drinks has become the new favorite, and it has also attracted capital and other ready-made beverage brands to inject capital and enter the market. However, after embarking on a "highway", some raw materials of ready-made yogurt have appeared one after another, such as unhealthy raw materials, inconsistent publicity and reality, and high calories, reflecting the hidden worries behind the industry. Recently, the Shanghai Municipal Consumer Protection Commission announced the testing data of Baozhu cheese, Blueglass Yogurt, tea cheese and K22 related freshly made yogurt products, and the results showed that the above products had higher fat content than protein content, high sugar content, and less yogurt content.

Industry insiders believe that if the ready-made yogurt market wants to be more standardized, it is first necessary for government departments to strengthen supervision, formulate strict industry standards and safety norms, and conduct regular sampling inspections on products on the market to ensure product quality. Secondly, the brand itself also needs to establish the concept of honest management, control product quality from the source, do not cut corners, and promote truthfully. In addition, brands can also establish a good brand image through an open and transparent production process, subject to consumer supervision. For brands with negative reputation, it is necessary to truly be consumer-centric and meet the needs of consumers with high-quality products and services, so as to regain the trust of consumers.

The new national standard for food additives was released

Recently, the State Administration for Market Regulation and the National Health Commission publicly released the "National Food Safety Standard for the Use of Food Additives" (GB 2760-2024) (hereinafter referred to as the new national standard). The new national standard is a revision of the 2014 version and will be officially implemented on February 8, 2025.

The new national standard has revised the definition of food additives, and according to the Food Safety Law implemented in 2015, the definition of food additives has added the content of nutritional fortifiers. The management of food nutrition fortifiers such as new variety licensing and compound food nutrition fortifiers can be implemented with reference to the relevant management regulations on food additives. The new national standard stipulates that food additives are synthetic or natural substances added to food for the purpose of improving food quality and color, aroma and taste, as well as for the needs of preservative, preservation and processing technology.

Proprietors shall not forcibly collect table fees

Tableware and tableware disinfection fees...... Consumers often encounter a variety of fees and charges from restaurants when dining out.

For the "tableware disinfection fee", it is the legal obligation of the restaurant to provide consumers with safe and hygienic tableware free of charge, and the restaurant shall not only provide the paid sterilized tableware and pass this obligation on to the consumer. If the restaurant only provides paid sterilized tableware, it is suspected of compulsory or disguised compulsory collection of tableware disinfection fees, which not only violates the consumer's right to choose, but also violates the principle of fair trade, and the consumer has the right to refuse.

As for the "table fee", as a place that provides catering services, it is one of the basic services to provide seats and services to consumers, and the restaurant has no right to charge for it repeatedly. For restaurants that provide value-added services such as tea, fruits, and snacks while charging table fees, the restaurant must inform consumers in advance, clearly indicate the specific content and price of the services provided, and let the consumers decide whether they need the corresponding services, otherwise the consumer's right to know and the right to choose will be violated. If consumers do not need value-added services related to table fees, in theory, restaurants are not allowed to forcibly charge table fees, otherwise restaurants are suspected of forcing or disguised compulsory fees.

Tianshui spicy hot fragrance floats in all directions

Following the Zibo barbecue and "Erbin" frozen pears, Gansu Tianshui Malatang became popular in the circle, attracting food bloggers and netizens from all over the world to taste it, and many consumers also bought local specialty products online through e-commerce platforms, and made their own family version of Tianshui Malatang at home to try it in time.

From the perspective of the consumer group of Tianshui Malatang related products, the "post-90s" generation is the largest consumer group, accounting for 36.2% of the turnover. In the consumption of subdivided products, the "post-70s" bought nearly half of the dried chili peppers of Gangu, the "post-80s" bought forty percent of Gansu spicy hot seasoning, Tianshui oil poured spicy seeds, and the "post-90s" bought fifty percent of Gansu hand-rolled flour and forty percent of Dingxi wide noodles.

Standardize food labeling to protect consumer rights

In reality, there are many chaos in food labels: some food labels are not clear, the font is very small, or the color is almost the same as the packaging bag, which makes it difficult for people to see clearly. In addition, problems such as falsification of production dates, missing and random labels of ingredients and ingredients are also emerging.

Although the Food Safety Law clarifies the matters that should be indicated on the label, there is no clear specification on how to label them. The relevant expressions in the "Regulations on the Administration of Food Labeling" are also relatively broad, and most of the formats used and the specific positions marked on the outer packaging are freely played by manufacturers.

With the development of society, the laws of the mainland are also constantly improving, and the "Measures for the Supervision and Administration of the Measurement of Quantitative Packaged Commodities" issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation in 2023 has a more detailed provision on packaged goods. In addition, the specification of food labels can explore more cost-effective and high-performance methods, such as packaging that is too small, and the complete label information can be marked in the form of QR codes, which is convenient for consumers to scan the code to view.

It is imperative to standardize food labeling, and only by taking comprehensive measures, strengthening credit supervision and joint disciplinary action, can the legitimate rights and interests of consumers be protected, so as to achieve a win-win situation for all parties.

Crayfish farming technology is becoming more and more mature, and prices are slowly falling

For every 2 crayfish in the country, 1 comes from Hubei. As a large crayfish producing province, Hubei has attracted attention to the price and supply of local crayfish. Some merchants said that the price of crayfish has generally dropped this year, and the price of "Xiaoqing" is now 20 yuan per catty, and it was 30 yuan per catty at the peak last year; "Zhongqing" is now selling for 30 yuan per catty, and the most expensive time last year was 38 yuan per catty.

According to industry insiders, in recent years, the area of crayfish farming across the country has continued to expand, the breeding technology has become increasingly mature, the supply has been increasing, and the competition has become increasingly fierce. Affected by supply and demand, crayfish prices slowly declined.

Caring for children with autism, Feihe joined hands with "Light Up Action" to launch public welfare co-branded products

April 2, 2024 is the 17th World Autism Day. In order to call on the public to pay attention to the autism group, the Light Up Action Public Welfare Program held the World Autism Day theme activity and the "Meet the Light" public welfare painting exhibition in Beijing, and many caring people in the fields of public welfare and art attended. Feihe attended the event as a representative of the Starlight Caring Enterprise of the Joint Development Group and released public welfare co-branded products.

Feihe and the Light Up Action Public Welfare Program jointly launched the public welfare joint project "Ju Gaoxing", the box body is printed with the painting of the young autism painter Wang Jianshu, so that more people can understand the autism community and see the talents and potential of children. In this activity, for every box of Jugaoxing Public Welfare Art Limited Edition sold, Feihe will take out 1 yuan as a public welfare donation and donate it to the China Volunteer Service Foundation Lighting Action Public Welfare Program to promote the improvement of children's education and life.

The 2024 China Dairy Industry Two Sessions and One Exhibition are scheduled to be held in Wuhan in July

The China Dairy Association recently issued a notice to change the "15th China Dairy Conference 2024 Top 20 Dairy Industry (D20) Forum and 2024 China Dairy Exhibition" originally planned to be held in June 2024 to be held at Wuhan International Expo Center in Wuhan on July 3-5.

Fruits, livestock and poultry meat, and aquatic products should not exceed 4 layers of packaging

On April 1, the national standard of "Requirements for Restricting Excessive Packaging of Commodities and Fresh Edible Agricultural Products" came into effect, which will provide law enforcement basis and basic support for strengthening the governance of the whole chain of excessive packaging of commodities and guiding the production and operation of fresh edible agricultural products to be moderately and reasonably packaged.

The standard clarifies the methods and technical indicators for determining whether fresh edible agricultural products such as vegetables (including edible fungi), fruits, livestock and poultry meat, aquatic products and eggs are over-packaged: First, the upper limit of packaging void ratio of 10%-25% is set for different types and weights of fresh edible agricultural products. The second is to stipulate that vegetables (including edible fungi) and eggs should not exceed 3 layers of packaging, and fruits, livestock and poultry meat, and aquatic products should not exceed 4 layers of packaging. Third, it is clear that the ratio of the packaging cost of fresh edible agricultural products to the sales price shall not exceed 20%, and the sales price of strawberries, cherries, bayberry, loquats, livestock and poultry meat, aquatic products and eggs shall not exceed 15%.

The Precision Nutrition Industry Branch of the Chinese Nutrition Society was established in Beijing, and Mengniu continues to lead the industry in a new future of innovation and development

On April 2, the Precision Nutrition Industry Branch of the Chinese Nutrition Society held its inaugural meeting in Beijing and successfully elected the first committee. Dr. Zhang Xuguang, Assistant Vice President of Mengniu Group and Head of the Institute of Nutritional Sciences, was elected as the chairman of the first Expert Committee of the branch. At the same time, the conference was successfully held with the theme of "Exclusive Nutrition · Building Precision Together".

Mengniu Group is the leading organization of the Precision Nutrition Industry Branch of the Chinese Nutrition Society, and the Mengniu Institute of Nutritional Science hosted the meeting. In the future, the Precision Nutrition Industry Branch will continue to give full play to its own advantages and promote the innovation and development of the precision nutrition industry. At the same time, Mengniu will continue to deepen its cooperation with the branch to jointly explore the application of precision nutrition technology in the R&D and production of dairy products, bring more high-quality and personalized nutrition solutions to consumers, and contribute new and greater strength to the construction of a healthy China!

What are the difficulties in reducing salt? The latest survey shows that it is difficult to adjust the "heavy" mouth

According to the research results released by the international authoritative academic journal "The Lancet", the most lethal problem of Chinese diet is not sugary drinks (only ranked 12th), but eating too much salt (sodium). The World Health Organization has reminded that a high-sodium diet is closely related to hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

Why is it so difficult to reduce salt in the kitchen? Are people unaware of the importance of salt reduction, or are they reluctant to do so? Data from the Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center shows that nearly 70% of respondents believe that salt reduction has high health significance, more than 60% of respondents believe that they need to reduce salt, and nearly 70% of respondents are trying to reduce salt. But salt is the number one of all flavors, with more than 50% of respondents saying that the biggest obstacle to salt reduction is the difficulty of giving up taste.

Why is it so difficult to reduce salt in the kitchen? Are people unaware of the importance of salt reduction, or are they reluctant to do so? Data from the Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center shows that nearly 70% of respondents believe that salt reduction has high health significance, more than 60% of respondents believe that they need to reduce salt, and nearly 70% of respondents are trying to reduce salt. But salt is the number one of all flavors, with more than 50% of respondents saying that the biggest obstacle to salt reduction is the difficulty of giving up taste.

Source: China.com Food