On March 27, 2025, the National Health Commission and the State Administration for Market Regulation jointly issued 50 national food safety standards including GB 7718-2025 National Food Safety Standard General Standard for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods and 9 amended documents, which involves the National Food Safety Standard Cream, Butter and Anhydrous Milkfat, the National Food Safety Standard Fermented Milk, and amended document No. 1 of the National Food Safety Standard Sterilized Milk. In order to better understand the changes between the old and new standards, Antion conducts an analysis and interpretation of their main changes and impacts as follows.

PART.1 Cream, Butter and Anhydrous Milkfat

GB 19646-2025 National Food Safety Standard Cream, Butter and Anhydrous Milkfat will come into effect on March 16, 2026.

In terms of definitions and indicators, the definition of cream was revised, the definition and indicator requirements for whipped cream were newly added, and the addition of other food raw materials except non-dairy source fats is allowed.

Regarding labeling requirements, the labeling and indication requirements for cream were standardized. Cream products should be indicated the product category, such as "cream", "whipped cream", "fermented cream", "fermented whipped cream", "acidified cream" and "acidified whipped cream"; At the same time, the equivalence between the terms of butter and anhydrous milkfat was clarified.

PART.2 Fermented Milk

GB 19302-2025 National Food Safety Standard Fermented Milk will come into effect on September 16, 2025. Compared with the 2010 version, the new fermented milk standard was adjusted in many aspects.

In terms of the scope of application, "whole, skimmed and partially skimmed" fermented milk was revised to "fermented milk and flavored fermented milk", which is consistent with the category division in the definitions of terms. The terms and definitions were also improved, specifying that food-industry concentrated milk can be used as a raw material for the production of fermented milk and flavored fermented milk, and a regulation allowing the simultaneous addition of one or more raw materials was added. The raw material requirements for flavored fermented milk and flavored yogurt were refined, in which "more than 80%" was modified to "no less than 80%", and an explanation was added. At the same time, the names of fermentation strains were modified to correspond to the list of bacterial species that can be used in foods.

In terms of physical and chemical indicators, the acidity was revised from "≥70°T" to "≥60°T". The expression and test methods of microbial limits were also adjusted. For limits of some pathogenic bacteria, relevant indicators in GB 29921 are directly referenced.

In addition, the new standard added the labeling requirements, specifying that descriptive terms for fat content such as skimmed, partially skimmed and whole fat can be used.

PART.3 Sterilized Milk

Amended Document No. 1 of the National Food Safety Standard Sterilized Milk will come into effect on September 16, 2025. This amendment clearly stipulated that only raw milk can be used as the raw material for producing sterilized milk, and the use of reconstituted milk is no longer allowed.

This revision limits the raw material of sterilized milk to raw bovine (ovine) milk, which is in line with the actual development of China's industry. It not only effectively improves the quality of sterilized milk, but also aligns with international mainstream standards. After the implementation of the new standard, sterilized milk will be directly processed from fresh milk rich in various active nutritional substances, and its taste, quality, and grade will be further enhanced. In addition, the product package will only be marked as "pure cow (goat) milk", making the label clearer.

PART.4 Summary

This release updated and improved the regulations and standards of the dairy industry in various aspects, covering raw material control, production specifications and labeling, and aims to enhance the quality of dairy products, and promote the healthy and orderly development of the dairy industry.

It is recommended that relevant enterprises pay attention to the changes in compliance requirements regarding processes, physical and chemical as well as microbial indicators and labeling in the new standard in a timely manner, improve product quality and safety, ensure a smooth transition between the old and new standard, and guarantee compliant production and operation.

Source: Antion

Note: This article is compiled by Antion. Please indicate the source for reprint.