Food safety standards

Article 24 The formulation of food safety standards shall be aimed at protecting the health of the public and shall be scientific, reasonable, safe and reliable.

Article 25 Food safety standards are mandatory standards. In addition to food safety standards, no other mandatory food standards may be formulated.

Article 26 Food safety standards shall include the following contents:

• Limits on pathogenic microorganisms, pesticide residues, veterinary drug residues, biological toxins, heavy metals and other pollutants and other substances that endanger human health in foods, food additives and food-related products;

• Varieties, scope of use and dosage of food additives;

• Nutritional requirements for main and auxiliary foods for infants and other specific groups;

• Requirements for labels, signs and instructions related to food safety requirements such as hygiene and nutrition;

• Hygiene requirements for food production and operation processes;

• Quality requirements related to food safety;

• Food Inspection methods and procedures related to food safety;

• Other contents that need to be formulated as food safety standards.

Article 27 National food safety standards shall be formulated and promulgated by the health administrative department of the State Council in conjunction with the food and drug supervision and administration department of the State Council, and the standardization administrative department of the State Council shall provide the national standard number.

The limit regulations for pesticide residues and drug residues in food and their inspection methods and procedures shall be formulated by the health administrative department of the State Council, the agricultural administrative department of the State Council and the food and drug supervision and administration department of the State Council.

The inspection procedures for slaughtered animals and livestock shall be formulated by the agricultural administrative department of the State Council and the health administrative department of the State Council.

Article 28 The formulation of national food safety standards shall be based on the results of food safety risk assessment and fully consider the results of edible agricultural product safety risk assessment, refer to relevant international standards and international food safety risk assessment results, and publish the draft national food safety standards to the public, and widely listen to the opinions of food producers and operators, consumers, and relevant departments. National food safety standards shall be reviewed and approved by the National Food Safety Standard Review Committee organized by the health administrative department of the State Council. The National Food Safety Standard Review Committee is composed of experts in medicine, agriculture, food, nutrition, biology, environment, etc., as well as representatives of relevant departments of the State Council, food industry associations, and consumer associations, and reviews the scientificity and practicality of the draft national food safety standards.

Article 29 For local specialty foods that do not have national food safety standards, the health administrative departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government may formulate and publish local food safety standards and report them to the health administrative departments of the State Council for filing. After the national food safety standards are formulated, the local standards shall be abolished.

Article 30 The state encourages food production enterprises to formulate enterprise standards that are stricter than national food safety standards or local standards, apply them in their enterprises, and report them to the health administrative departments of the people's governments of provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the central government for filing.

Article 31 The health administrative departments of the people's governments at or above the provincial level shall publish the formulated and filed national food safety standards, local standards, and enterprise standards on their websites for free access and download by the public. For problems in the implementation of food safety standards, the health administrative departments of the people's governments at or above the county level shall, together with relevant departments, promptly provide guidance and answers.

Article 32 The health administrative departments of the people's governments at or above the provincial level shall, together with the food and drug supervision and administration, quality supervision, agricultural administration and other departments at the same level, respectively track and evaluate the implementation of national food safety standards and local standards, and promptly revise food safety standards based on the evaluation results. The food and drug supervision and administration, quality supervision, agricultural administration and other departments of the people's governments at or above the provincial level shall collect and summarize the problems existing in the implementation of food safety standards, and promptly report them to the health administrative departments at the same level.

If food producers and operators and food industry associations find problems in the implementation of food safety standards, they shall immediately report to the health administrative departments.