Stricter and safer: China proposes new pre-packaged labelling standards mandating clearer ingredient and origin information The Chinese government’s draft regulations launched earlier this year governing the labelling of pre-packaged foods and beverages contained stricter guidelines, including mandating manufacturers to include clearer information on compound ingredients as well as more country of origin detail.
“The National Food Safety Standards Review Committee Secretariat has drafted [a set of new food safety standards] concerning regulations for the labelling of pre-packaged foods in China,” the local National Health Commission (NHC) stated via a formal statement.
“This is in line with the local Food Safety Law, and we are currently soliciting public comment for this draft – all members of the food industry and the public can login to the National Food Safety Standards Management Information System online to submit feedback before February 29 2024.”
Nutri-Level labelling: Indonesia plans new food labelling laws to mandate front-of-pack grading scheme The Indonesian government proposed new regulations this year to mandate the use of its upcoming Nutri-Level front-of-pack traffic light labelling system for food products considered high in sugar, salt and fat.
The Nutri-Level system is expected to look very similar to Singapore’s Nutri-Grade system, where processed food products would be labelled as either level A (dark green), B (light green), C (yellow) or D (red) according to their nutrient content.
Draft regulation documents from Indonesia’s National Agency of Drug and Food Control (BPOM) revealed that the government has already included this system in the draft.
“Nutri-Level will be used to give the processed food product a level represented by the alphabet A, B, C or D based on its content of sugar, salt (sodium), and total fat,” BPOM stated via formal documentation.
“Processed foods that are given level C or D will be mandated to display the Nutri-Level assigned on the front of the product packaging.
“The implementation of Nutri-Level will be carried out throughout the food and beverage industry in Indonesia in phases.”
Clear and legible: Thailand announces new pre-packaged food labelling regulations mandating clarity and manufacturer responsibility The Thai government announced the enforcement of new labelling regulations for pre-packaged food products earlier this year that emphasised increased information clarity for consumers as well as mandating the inclusion of manufacturer information.
The Thai FDA first announced it would be revamping the regulations for pre-packaged food labels back in September 2023, with an emphasis on expiry dates and allergen warnings.
This move was in line with multiple other Asian countries such as Vietnam, China and South Korea which have all made amendments to their pre-packaged food labelling standards in the past year.
“These regulations will apply to all foods and beverages that are packaged for sale to consumers, with only four potential exemptions,” the agency said via formal documentation.
“The first is fresh food that has not undergone any form of processing; the second is fresh food that has been processed to reduce the size (e.g. peeling, trimming, etc.) and is packaged in transparent containers where the condition of the food is clearly visible.
“The third is food in containers produced and sold strictly for foodservice use; and the last is food that is sold directly to consumers via a platform where information is directly communicated to the consumers, such as e-commerce platforms (e.g. Facebook, LINE).
“All other food and beverage products which are pre-packaged and processed, and sold via retail at supermarkets, convenience stores and so on must comply.”
Eggs-traordinary changes: Cadbury Australia introduces reduced-plastic packaging for Easter specials Mondelez International-owned Cadbury Australia revamped the packaging for its Easter series this year to meet consumer demand for sustainable packaging, and as part of the firm’s long-term efforts to reduce plastic use and wastage.
The confectionery giant said that the Cadbury Hollow Hunting Egg plastic crates were switched to 12- and 24-pack cardboard cartons to save 131,000kg of plastic, while the plastic blister and excess cardboard in some Cadbury Easter Gift Boxes were removed, reducing over 200,000kg of packaging.
“Packaging is one of the most prominent sustainability topics for consumers. They believe it is the responsibility of companies to provide sustainable packaging and have indicated that they’re willing to pay more to support brands who are acting to improve their impact.
“Although product protection is a must and plastic delivers on this, consumers are highly interested in recyclable, reduced and reusable packaging options. They consider that the most important action brands can take is to ‘come up with new ways to tackle plastic waste’, and expect to see innovation in this area,” Stephanie Saliba, Director of Corporate and Government Affairs – Japan, Australia and New Zealand at Mondelez International, told FoodNavigator-Asia.
‘Going beyond lollipops’: Perfetti van Melle taps packaging functionality and impulse-buying as major confectionery strategies Confectionery heavyweight Perfetti van Melle has highlighted its belief that it is crucial to tap on impulse-buying tendencies and packaging functionality as major components of its marketing in order to maximise consumer reach.
Perfetti van Melle is the company behind iconic confectionery brands such as Mentos and Chupa Chups.
The firm believes that most consumers tend not to plan the purchases of their products, but instead buy these impulsively.
“This is a key reason why we place key SKU’s such as our Mentos mints individual packs at the counter tills both in domestic and travel retail stores, as mints are an item that consumers will look and think about purchasing on-the-go for breath freshening, as opposed to walking into a store specially just to buy these,” Perfetti van Melle Area Manager Travel Retail Sander Prins told FoodNavigator-Asia at the Tax Free World Association (TFWA) show earlier this year.
“Impulse buying is an essential, key part of confectionery marketing, and this is why we always prioritise cashier till space which affords consumers both convenience and relativity.
“It is also how we look to push some of our specific new items – a good example has been our sugar-free Chupa Chups which we just launched in 2022/2023 as usually consumers with diabetes issues or those that are watching their sugar intake for dietary or health reasons will not really go through the confectionery aisles, but when they see these at the tills when paying the sugar-free proposition really sparks their interest.
Removing labels: Nestlé urges a ‘more modest approach’ and greater focus on taste to spur plant-based development Food and beverage major Nestlé Professional has claimed there is a need to move away from marketing keywords such as “plant-based” and focus on elevating the taste of alternative protein products to boost “natural” uptake and sector growth.
Drawing on nearly 150 years of expertise and a vast global R&D network, Nestlé Professional serves various sectors of the food and beverage industry to meet the evolving needs of consumers and businesses.
A constant focus area of innovation for the firm has been sustainability, where efforts span ingredients sourcing and manufacturing to packaging and delivery of products to the end consumer. It also has a range of plant-based products under the brand HARVEST GOURMET.
“Sustainability is a priority for every FMCG company. While the plant-based business is a huge focus for us, sustainability is not just about meat alternatives. At the same time, we have to be realistic about consumer needs. We see that in Singapore specifically and generally in Asia, the appetite for meat replacement is limited. There are already many nice alternatives, such as soy products.
“It’s more about raising awareness. We work hand in hand with institutions and chefs, telling them that it’s relevant to have these options on their menu. It’s going to take a long time to change consumption behaviour, but by increasing access, we could slowly change the way people consume,” said Paul Nagelkerken, Country Business Manager at Nestlé Professional Singapore.
Clear and simple: Taiwan formalises requirements for nutrition claims language for prepackaged foods Taiwan has finalised labelling requirements when making nutrition claims for prepackaged foods, after completing two public consultations across more than two years of deliberation.
The Taiwan Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been attempting to tighten nutritional labelling regulations for packaged food products in the market since 2021 in a bid to prevent ‘hidden’ or ‘implied messages about product benefits.
The Taiwan FDA published the specific guidelines and questionnaires earlier this year specifying how manufacturers are to word their nutrition claims on pre-packaged food products.
“All claims made must quantify the calorie or nutrient content of the product in concern using units of weight (100g), volume (100ml), unit (1 piece) or per serving size,” the agency said via formal documentation.
“Nutrients that are meant for moderate intake to avoid adverse effects on public health such as saturated fats, cholesterol, sodium, sugar, excessive calories or lactose [can only be present in] the product according to specified amounts to make nutritional claims.
“Any claims of ‘-free’, ‘low-’, ‘less-’, ‘light-‘, ‘slight-‘ or any other related phrases will need to be below the specified amounts – so for instance, food products labelled as low-sodium, less-sodium and so on must contain 120mg or less of sodium per 120mg of solid/semi-solid product or 100ml or liquid product whereas a sodium-free label will need to have less than 5mg across the board.
“For all ‘less-‘ or ‘low-‘ claims, the limit for calories will be 40kcal/20kcal per 100g solid/100ml liquid; for sugars will be 5g/2.5g; for fats will be 3g/1.5g; for saturated fats will be 1.5g/0.75g, for cholesterol will be 20mg/10mg, and for lactose will be 2g across the board – requirements for ‘zero-‘ or ‘-free’ claims will be even more stringent.”
Addressing Singapore’s ‘silver tsunami’: Nutri-Grade labelling expansion to include sodium and sat fat likely ‘to be effective’ Singapore’s planned move to extend the Nutri-Grade labelling and advertising prohibitions to key contributors of sodium and saturated fat will likely be ‘effective’, according to industry experts.
The Singapore Ministry of Health (MOH) has stated that one of its key focus areas is to encourage Singaporeans to have healthier diet.
The move to implement Nutri-Grade measures to curb sodium and saturated fat intake would – based on the success shown with the Nutri-Grade measures for sugared beverages – likely be effective in achieving its objectives, said Lim Ren Jun, Principal at Baker McKenzie Wong & Leow, a law firm with expertise in regulatory compliance.
“This would be welcome from a public health perspective especially with the prospective silver tsunami that Singapore faces in reducing chronic diseases such as hypertension and hyperlipidaemia, which have been increasing in recent years,” said Lim, who also co-heads the firm’s Healthcare and Consumer Goods & Retail industry groups.
Advertising accuracy: South Korea drills down on stricter food product labelling laws to avoid ‘deceptive’ claims The South Korean Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) announced new, stricter regulations earlier this year governing food product labelling, specifically prohibiting links to various types of herbal medicines and other health or nutritional claims.
The rise in consumer awareness and demand for health and wellness products as part of their diet has led to a corresponding increase in popularity for herbal medicine products such as ginseng and traditional tea ssanghwatang, which are regulated differently than regular food items in the country when health claims are made.
However, the popularity of these products also led to an increase in firms attempting to capitalise on these by linking their own food or beverage products to these in the labels, even if these include little to none of the beneficial ingredients, in addition to making other in-health and nutrition claims.
MFDS has made many attempts to curb these misleading practices, including setting new regulations containing long lists of specific standards, practices and items that will no longer be allowed on product labels.
“In order to protect consumers and ensure objectivity and transparency against inaccurate and misleading product labelling and advertising, these new regulations will apply to all parts of the food from finished products to packaging to additives, livestock and more,” the ministry said via a formal statement.
“These regulations specifically prohibit any product labelling or advertising that may cause the food [or beverage item] to be perceived as [health-conferring products] including herbal medicines, health functional foods, or are deceptive to consumers in any way.”
A twist in the tea: Yili seeks to capture new consumer base with twist-top RTD range China dairy giant Yili ventured into the ready-to-drink (RTD) tea segment earlier this year with an entirely new product concept dubbed the ‘instant brewed tea’ under its INIKIN brand as it looks to capture a new base of local consumers.
Yili’s INIKIN brand was first developed for its bottled volcanic rock-filtered mineral water range back in 2019, and the tea products have continued to use this branding as it uses INIKIN volcanic water as a core ingredient.
“INIKIN products are designed to be clean label, and these instant brewed teas are no different as they contain just two ingredients which are good quality water and good quality tea,” Yili Shanghai Branch General Manager Baoguang Wang told the floor at the Food and Beverage Innovation Forum (FBIF) 2024.
“The instant brewed tea concept is reliant on our new twist-cap technology, where we have put tea that was freeze-dried at -40°C into the cap and this will be released when the cap is twisted, dropping the tea into the water bottle.
“The tea is instantly mixed with the water, and because it was freeze-dried it has not undergone any oxidation or change in taste so the end-taste after mixing with the water is the same as brewed tea.”
Yili’s technology allows for the tea to be evenly mixed with the mineral water even at regular room temperature and claims that the tea has additional health benefits due to the natural presence of natural minerals in the volcanic water.