ZMUni Compliance Centre

On March 26, 2024, China’s State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) issued an Announcement on “Encouraging Food Enterprises to Optimize the Labeling of Production Dates and Shelf Life for Pre-packaged Food Products”, aiming to help consumers to clearly identify the label of pre-packaged food (including food additives).

The announcement is outlined as follows:

1. The main display area of the primary packaging of pre-packaged food products shall prominently label the production date and shelf life of the pre-packaged food. For multi-layered packaging, the production date and shelf life of the pre-packaged food shall be labeled on the outermost layer of the packaging.

2. When using the format "as indicated on the packaging" to mark the production date and shelf life, the location should be clear, accurately described, and easy to find.

3. Use text, numbers, and symbols for labeling production dates and shelf life with a minimum height of no less than 3 millimeters, and a height-to-width ratio not exceeding 3:1.

4. Clearly mark the production date and shelf life in a contrasting and conspicuous manner, such as black text on a white background.

5. Clearly label the production date and the expiration date in the order of year, month, and day.

6. For pre-packaged food products containing multiple individually packaged food items, either mark the expiration date on the outer packaging based on the earliest expiration date of the individual pre-packaged food item, or separately label the expiration date of each individual pre-packaged food item on the outer packaging.

7. For pre-packaged food produced using subpackaging, both the production date and the subpackaging date shall be marked simultaneously, and the expiration date of the sub-packaged food shall be marked as the expiration date for the pre-packaged food.

8. Improve date labeling technologies and equipment such as coding and printing to ensure the durability and clarity of production dates, shelf life, and other labeling content.