Exactly what kind of food is prepackaged food

Li Jin, Beijing Dongcheng District Market Supervision Bureau

Recently, "anti-counterfeiting" on the grounds that the food labels sold by food operators do not meet the mandatory labeling of pre-packaged food have been frequently reported in the newspapers, and the focus issue is "what kind of food is pre-packaged food"

The definition of "pre-quantified" and "currently called for sale" is unclear

A local market supervision department received reports from consumers that the pre-packaged rice (net content of 10 kg) purchased in an online store was not marked with the product standard code and production license number, and required the relevant departments to investigate and deal with it according to law

This case is a frequent occurrence of online food sales, and whether the small bags of rice sold by the parties belong to prepackaged food or bulk food often causes great controversy

If the case is readjusted, the basic case is case A, and the adjusted case is case

The emergence of logical paradoxes must be a problem in the derivation process.

Prepackaged food has both "food quality" and "industrial production"

If prepackaged food and bulk food cannot be accurately distinguished by definition, can the difference be investigated by introducing comparative analysis?

The Interpretation of the Food Safety Law defines the function of a food label as: by clearly and accurately describing the name, specification, and producer name of the labeled food, scientifically convey information such as the safety characteristics of the food to consumers

The contents on food labels are the basis for consumers or users to purchase and use these foods.

Prepackaged food and bulk food have common connotation characteristics.

In contrast, prepackaged food labels have some content that bulk food labels do not have, including specifications, net content, ingredient or ingredient list, product standard code, common name of food additives, and production license number

From the definition of the two, the "pre-quantification" of the constituent elements of prepackaged food is a concrete manifestation of its "industrial product nature", which is different from other types of food such as bulk food

Based on the above analysis, the author believes that the two types of small bags of rice in Case A and Case B do not meet the above definition of prepackaged food, so they are all bulk food that food operators weigh and sell in the sales process, rather than prepackaged food.

Qualitative analysis of other types of food

Ready-to-eat food The current laws and regulations in China do not have a clear definition of ready-to-sell food.

Edible agricultural products are defined in the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of the Quality and Safety of Market Sales of Edible Agricultural Products: refer to plants, animals, microorganisms and their products obtained from agricultural activities for human consumption

Article 36 of the Food Safety Law for Food Produced by Small Food Workshops stipulates that the specific management measures for small food production and processing workshops and food vendors shall be formulated by provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the Central Government

"China Food News" (03 edition on June 30, 2022)

(Editor-in-charge: Zhou Yan)