GB 10770-2025National food safety standard - Canned supplementary food for infants and young children (English PDF)

1 Scope

The standard applies to canned supplementary foods eaten by older infants and young children from 6 to 36 months of age.

2 Terms and definitions

2.1 Older infant: a person of 6 to 12 months of age. 2.2 Young child: a person of 12 to 36 months of age.

2.3 Canned supplementary food for infants and young children: a food suitable for older infants and young children of 6 to 36 months of age, made from food raw materials that after treatment, filling, sealing and sterilization, or after aseptic filling, reach commercial sterility and can then be kept at room temperature.

3 Classification by product form

3.1 Juice type canned supplementary food for infants and young children: canned supplementary food in liquid form.

3.2 Puree or paste type canned supplementary food for infants and young children: canned supplementary food in semi-solid or solid form, in a puree or paste that can be swallowed smoothly without being chewed first.

3.3 Granular, flake or piece type canned supplementary food for infants and young children: canned supplementary food whose granules, flakes or pieces are of a size that will not cause difficulty in swallowing and whose consistency is neither too thin nor too thick; where the product is intended for older infants of 6 to 12 months, the granules, flakes or pieces shall be smaller than 5 mm.

4 Technical requirements

4.1 Raw material requirements. The raw materials used in the product shall comply with the corresponding safety standards or relevant provisions, shall guarantee the safety of infants and young children and meet their nutritional needs, and shall not include substances harmful to their nutrition and health. Water used in production that comes into direct contact with the product shall comply with GB 5749. Raw materials such as livestock meat, poultry meat, fish, shrimp and animal liver shall have the bone, scales, spines, membranes and other matter unsuitable for infants and young children removed; coarse fibre shall be removed from plant raw materials where necessary. Fruit and vegetable raw materials shall be sound and not spoiled, or products made from such materials; livestock meat, poultry meat, fish, shrimp and animal liver shall be fresh or frozen materials, or products made from them. Irradiated raw materials shall not be used. Hydrogenated fats shall not be used. Spices shall not be used. Honey shall not be used.

4.2 Sensory requirements. The requirements are given in Table 1, which has two columns, the item and the requirement, and three rows. Colour: appropriate to the characteristics of the product concerned. Taste and odour: appropriate to the characteristics of the product concerned. Texture: appropriate to the characteristics of the product concerned, with no foreign matter visible to normal eyesight and no bone, scales, spines or other matter unsuitable for infants and young children.

4.3.1 For products in which livestock meat, poultry meat, fish, shrimp or animal liver is the only ingredient apart from water, or the only source of protein, juice type products excluded, that ingredient shall account for not less than 40 % of the total mass of the product, calculated on the ingredients. The protein content of such a product shall be not less than 1.7 g/100 kJ (7 g/100 kcal) and the fat content not more than 1.4 g/100 kJ (6 g/100 kcal).

4.3.2 For products made from livestock meat, poultry meat, fish, shrimp or animal liver, singly or in combination, together with other food raw materials, juice type products excluded, the largest of those ingredients shall account for not less than 8 % of the total mass of the product, calculated on the ingredients. The protein content of such a product shall be not less than 0.7 g/100 kJ (3 g/100 kcal) and the fat content not more than 1.4 g/100 kJ (6 g/100 kcal).

4.3.3 In products containing fish, the histamine content shall be not more than 10 mg/100 g.

4.3.4 No sodium chloride shall be added to juice, puree, granular, flake or piece type products made mainly from fruit or vegetables.

4.3.5 The sodium content of the product in the ready-to-eat state shall be not more than 200 mg/100 g.

4.3.6 The energy value of the product is calculated by the method of GB 10769. The test method for protein is GB 5009.5, for fat GB 5009.6, for sodium GB 5009.91 and for histamine GB 5009.208.

4.4 Limits of contaminants. The limits shall comply with GB 2762.

4.5 Limits of mycotoxins. The limits shall comply with GB 2761.

4.6 Microbiological limits. The product shall meet the requirement of commercial sterility for canned foods, tested by the method of GB 4789.26. Tomato paste and tomato juice products shall in addition comply with Table 2, which has three columns, the item, the sampling plan and limit, and the test method: mould, expressed as a percentage of the microscopic fields, not more than 40, tested by GB 4789.15. A footnote states that samples are collected and handled in accordance with GB 4789.1.

4.7 Food additives and nutritional fortification substances. The use of food additives shall comply with GB 2760 and the use of nutritional fortification substances with GB 14880, together with the relevant announcements. The quality of food additives and of nutritional fortification substances shall comply with the corresponding safety standards and relevant provisions, together with the relevant announcements.

5 Other

5.1 The product label shall comply with GB 13432, and the nutrition declaration shall additionally state the content per 100 kJ.

5.2 The label shall state the age in months of the infants and young children for whom the product is suitable, the way it is to be eaten and the precautions to be taken. Granular, flake or piece type canned supplementary food shall carry the statement that the product contains granules, flakes or pieces and that care should be taken over safe swallowing when it is eaten.

5.3 Juice type canned foods shall state the content of fruit or vegetable juice or puree in the product.