How to investigate "premature food" from a typical case?

Wang Difei, Zhenjiang Market Supervision Bureau, Jiangsu Province

In recent years, "preterm food" has attracted much attention from the public

More than 8,000 boxes of "premature food" found

Company argues non-false labeling should be exempt from penalties

On November 8, 2019, the market supervision bureau of a certain place in Zhenjiang City, Jiangsu Province inspected the city's A Food Production Co.

During the investigation, A Food Production Co.

The law enforcement opinion of the local market supervision bureau believes that food companies are the main body of production and have the responsibility to ensure that all equipment is normal, and cannot use equipment failure as an excuse to evade legal responsibility

A Food Production Co.

Falsely marked production date

Serious violation of the authenticity and legality of the production process

How to identify the behavior of "premature birth" of food caused by marking the production date in advance, and whether it is a false labeling? If it is found to be illegal, how should it be punished?

Food "premature birth", although some foods have passed the inspection of their physical and chemical indicators, but it does not mean that the food is legal

According to the "National Food Safety Standard - General Rules for the Labeling of Prepackaged Foods" (GB7718-2011), some foods such as salt, vinegar, and solid sugar can be exempted from labeling the shelf life

The shelf life has two legal meanings: one is as the starting point of the shelf life, based on which to calculate whether a food is within the shelf life

Not a first offense

Reaching the bottom line of safety cannot be exempted from punishment

The Administrative Punishment Law provides principles for exemption from punishment: first, if the violation is minor and corrected in a timely manner, and no harmful consequences are caused, no administrative punishment will be imposed; second, if the first violation of the law and the harmful consequences are minor and corrected in a timely manner, administrative punishment may not be imposed.

Food production enterprises are the first responsible person for food safety, and have the legal obligation to ensure the legitimacy and authenticity of their own product labels, and must not shirk their legal responsibilities under any excuse

"China Food News" (July 19, 2022 03 edition)

(Editor-in-charge: Yuan Guofeng)