Food labels refer to all labels, marks, words, figures, symbols and other descriptions attached to food packaging containers. China has unified regulations on the content and format of food labels. The main contents of food labels include: food name, ingredient list, or ingredient list, net content or solid content, use method, production date, shelf life, factory name, address and batch number. In addition, according to foreign requirements, food exported to the United States and other countries must be labeled with food nutrition. Therefore, it is beneficial for consumers to understand the unified regulations on food labeling and prohibit counterfeiting.

General characteristics of food labels

The name of the food must be the most eye-catching on the whole label, and the name and net content of the food should be placed in a prominent position in the same field of vision. The content on the label must be clear, concise and eye-catching, the words and symbols should be clear and standardized, the design of graphics and drawings should be intuitive and easy to understand, and the background and background color should be contrasted. Food labels shall not be separated from packaging containers, and shall not become blurred or even fall off during circulation. The words used in the label must be standardized Chinese characters, and there must be no simplified characters, eliminated variant characters, nonstandard simplified characters and typos. If hanyu pinyin is used at the same time, it must be spelled correctly and obviously smaller than Chinese characters, which has a corresponding relationship with Chinese characters. Foreign languages can also be used on the label, but it must have a corresponding relationship with Chinese characters, and Chinese pinyin and foreign languages cannot be mixed. The weight unit used on the label is grams or kilograms, and the symbol is grams or kilograms; The unit of volume is milliliter or liter, and the symbol is milliliter or liter. The date on the label is expressed by international standard methods, such as 1993-08-30 1993-08-30. Therefore, if the food label does not meet the above requirements or is rough and crude, the food is generally unregistered fake and shoddy food.

Analyze food quality according to food name.

Food names must adopt special names that show the true attributes of food. However, illegal vendors use food names that don't match the contents and improve food grades to deceive consumers, such as passing ice cream off as ice cream. Others use food names that are easy for consumers to misunderstand or confuse the real attributes, physical state and preparation methods of food, instead of adding corresponding words or phrases before the food name or indicating it in brackets after the food name. Therefore, when shopping for food, don't easily buy high-grade or food with vague names but low prices. Most of these foods are fake and shoddy.

Learn to refer to the ingredient list or ingredient list on the food label.

Except for food with single raw material, food labels must be marked with ingredient list. If it is food with special needs, such as infant food, fortified food, special nutritious food, etc. The ingredient list must be added according to the requirements of product standards. All the ingredients in the ingredient list are arranged in the order of addition, and the composite ingredients are listed one by one according to their original ingredients. If the amount of compound ingredients is less than 25% of the total weight of food, the original ingredients of compound ingredients may not be listed in detail, but food additives must be listed. Therefore, consumers can initially judge the quality of food from the proportion and content of ingredients or ingredients, so as to choose the food they need.

Pay attention to the production date, shelf life or shelf life of food.

Packaged foods, except those that can be preserved for a long time, such as liquor, should be marked with production date and shelf life or shelf life. International standard methods are usually used to express the production date. For example, 19930909 means1993 September 9, and only the month and date can be indicated for foods with a storage date of less than 3 months. The date of production of cans is printed on the top of cans, and there are generally three lines of figures, one of which is the date of production in the form of 930909. The marking method of beer label production date is: the number at the top of the label is 1~ 12, the number at the bottom is 1~3 1, and the number with round holes is the production date of beer.

The shelf life of food refers to the time limit for ensuring the quality of food under the conditions stipulated in the label. During this period, the food is completely suitable for sale and meets the quality specified in the label or product standard, but after this period, the food is still edible.

The shelf life of food refers to the last date when the food can be eaten under the conditions specified in the label, and the food beyond this date is not suitable for eating.

Foods with a shelf life of more than 18 months and less than 7 days may be exempted from labeling the storage date or shelf life.