On May 15, the State Administration of Market Regulation (SAMR) issued a notice on the special rectification of solid beverages, tablet candy, substitute tea and other foods.

At present, tablet candy can be seen everywhere on the market. Enterprises will also add vitamins, minerals, novel food ingredients, etc. to tablet candy, but the raw material and forms are similar to tablet form health foods, which also confuses consumers. In this article, Antion will introduce the definition, labeling and advertising of tablet candy.

Definition and classification of tablet candy

According to the Food Production License Classification Catalog, tablet candy is classified as 1301 candy, which can be executed by GB 17399 National Food Safety Standard Candy and SB/T 10347 Candy Tablet Candy.

According to the SB/T 10347 Candy Tablet Candy, tablet candy is a solid candy which made of sugar or syrup (powder) or sweetener as the main raw material, through mixing, granulating or not granulating, pressing molding and other related processes.

According to the above definition, tablet candy is mainly made with sugar, syrup or sweetener in a series of processes.

The four categories of tablet candy for the processing method of its sugar surface.

l  Solid tablet candy: no sugar filling

l  Interlayer tablet candy: with interlayer sugar

l  Coated, coated polished tablet candy: surface coated, coated polished

l  Other types

Labeling and advertising requirements for tablet candy

The label of tablet candy should meet the requirements of GB 7718-2011 and GB 28050-2011. Label shall contain information such as product name, ingredient, product standard, production date, place of origin, name, address and telephone number of the manufacturer, shelf life, storage method, nutrition information.

According to SB/T 10347 Candy Tablet Candy, if the fruit/juice in the tablet candy is not less than 2.5% of the total mass fraction of the candy (calculated by raw fruit or raw juice), it can be marked as XX (fruit/juice) candy; when multiple fruits/juice ingredients are added to the candy and one of the fruits/juice ingredients is not less than 1.5% of the total mass fraction of the candy (calculated by raw fruit or raw juice), it can be named as XX (fruit/juice) candy represented by the fruit/juice.

In addition to meet above requirements, the labeling and advertising also needs to meet the Advertisement Law, the Food Safety Law and other laws and regulations. Curative effects and medical terms, the prevention or treatment of disease, or health care functions is prohibited on the label. Tablet candy as common food cannot be mixed with special food to sell.

For the common food labeling requirements, please click Introduction of Imported Prepackaged Food Labels