On August 1, 2025, the National Health Commission publicly solicited opinions on 30 national food safety standards including the General Rules for the Labeling of Food Additives (GB 29924, hereinafter referred to as the Draft). The deadline for comments is September 26, 2025. In order to help the industry better understand the changes in the Draft, Antion compared the Draft with GB 29924-2013 (hereinafter referred to as the "current standard"), analyzed and interpreted its changes and trends for enterprises' reference.
PART.1 Modified the description of scope, terms and definitions
Compared with the current standard, the Draft clarified that food nutritional fortification substances are included in the scope of food additives.
The Draft adjusted the expression of label and production date (manufacturing date). The expression of label was modified to "all instructions such as language, text, graphics and symbols on the package of food additives"; The expression of production date (manufacturing date) was modified to "the date when the food additive becomes the final product, including the packaging or filling date".
Newly added the definitions of "ingredients" and "auxiliary materials". "Ingredients" refer to any substance used in the manufacture or processing of food additives presenting (including in modified form) in the product; "Auxiliary materials" refer to food additives and/or food raw materials added to individual food additives for the purpose of facilitating processing, storage and use, as well as food raw materials added to compound food additives. The added excipients do not serve as additives in the final food product. These two definitions fill the gaps in the current standard and provide clear basis for labeling of the ingredients list.
PART.2 Modified the basic requirements for the labeling food additives
The Draft optimized the text requirements for the labeling of food additives, requiring the use of standardized Chinese characters (excluding trademarks), and traditional Chinese characters, pinyin, minority languages and foreign languages can be simultaneously used. When traditional Chinese characters, pinyin, minority languages and foreign languages are used, the mandatory labeling content should be consistent with the meaning of standardized Chinese characters (excluding the trademarks, names and addresses of manufacturers and foreign operators of imported food additives, as well as website addresses). Removed the labeling requirements for multiple packages (Clause 3.8 in the current standard), and newly added the label requirements for imported food additives, which require printed or affixed Chinese labels. The Chinese label of food additive should be indicated the mandatory labeling content required by this standard, as well as other laws, regulations and food safety standards.
PART.3 Modified the labeling content and requirements of food additives provided to manufacturers and operators
For the name, the Draft updated the scope of Chinese names for single variety food additives, adding "the names specified in GB 14880, the product quality specification standards for food nutrition fortifiers approved for use in food additives", and stipulating that "if the name is the name of a type of food additive, the specific name of the type of food additive used can be identified". And standardize the naming of food flavorings. It is required that "food flavorings" should be named after "XX flavor flavoring". Food flavorings used to improve or enhance food flavor, if the product itself does not produce aroma or fragrance, can be named according to its production process and model, marked as "production process + food flavoring + model", such as "flavoring for emulsified food A123456".
For the ingredients list, the Draft newly added the labeling requirements for gum base, that is, "gum base should indicate the category name of the ingredients (including food raw materials) used in the production of gum base, such as natural rubber, synthetic rubber, resin, wax, emulsifier, softener, antioxidant, preservative, and filler, and specific names may not be indicated". If a single variety or compound food additive contains excipients, "excipients" should be used as a guiding word.
For the scope of use, dosage and use methods, the Draft modified from "optional labeling" to "marking all scopes of use and dosages as much as possible"; Newly added exceptions. For food additives with a wide range of uses, if the label or instruction manual is limited and cannot indicate all the usage scope and dosage, some parts can be selected from the usage scope and dosage approved by GB 2760, GB 14880 and the health administrative department of the State Council for labeling. The remaining usage scope and dosage should also be indicated in accordance with the relevant usage regulations of GB 2760, GB 14880 or the announcement approved by the health administrative department of the State Council. The dosage can indicate the maximum usage amount or the recommended usage amount that is less than the maximum usage amount. For dosages that are "appropriate level as required in production", numerical recommended usage amounts should be indicated as much as possible.
The Draft refers to the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Food Labeling issued by the State Administration for Market Regulation, and has made significant adjustments to the net content and specifications, the names, addresses, and contact information of producers and operators, and date labeling. Especially, the Draft requires that the production date and expiration date of prepackaged food should be clearly marked in the order of year, month and day. If the labeling of date is in the form of "see a certain part of the package", the specific part of the package should be indicated. For products with a shelf life of 6 months or more, only the shelf life and expiration date can be indicated. The date marking should be clear, eye-catching, and easy to recognize. It should not be separated from the packaging or container, and should not be affixed, reprinted, or modified. When the maximum surface area of the packaging material or packaging container is not greater than 20 cm2, only the shelf life and expiration date may be marked.
For product standard code, the Draft newly added the option to indicate "relevant announcement No. of the Health Administrative Department of the State Council".
PART.4 Modified the labeling content and requirements for food additives provided for direct use by consumers
The Draft refined the labeling requirements for compound food additives, stipulating that compound food additives should also indicate the common name of each individual food additive and the names of auxiliary materials in the ingredients list. Compound food additives used in market sales and catering should also indicate the content of each individual food additive variety.
PART.5 Summary
The Draft effectively enhances the standardization of food additive labeling and further regulates the production and sales behavior of food additives by defining the precise scope and definition, standardizing the basic requirements for food additive labeling, and refining the content and requirements for food additive labeling provided to manufacturers, operators and consumers.
Antion hopes to help food enterprises and industry personnel better grasp the standard content, understand standard changes, and update product labels as early as possible through the interpretation of the revised content. At the same time, Antion can provide consulting services such as standard regulations consultation and food label review. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us (010-51301566).
Source: Antion
Note: This article is compiled by Antion. Please indicate the source for reprint.