Enlightenment of the Latest Version of the General Rules for Nutrition Labelling of Prepackaged Foods in the Food Market in China

Abstract

Nutritional information is one of the most important parts of prepackaged food packaging, and its main role is to provide consumers with a description of nutritional information. In 2021, China published the “General Rules for Nutrition Labelling of Prepackaged Food in the National Standard for Food Safety” (draft for comment). The form has been systematically revised to cover a total of 13 aspects compared to the older version. Based on a comparison between the new and old nutrition labeling of foods, this paper analyzes the potential impact of the improved items on food production, transportation, consumption, and management, and discusses in detail how food manufacturers, consumers, the public, and other stakeholders should respond to the changes in nutrition labels. Finally, based on the experience of nutrition labeling in other countries and the nutrition and health problems of Chinese people, suggestions are made for the future development of nutrition labeling in our country.

Keywords

• nutrition labeling
• healthy food
• food production
• health literacy
• chronic disease control