GB/T 41900-2022Code for canned foods (English PDF)

1 Scope

This document specifies the position and requirements for marking the code of canned foods and the method of marking it.

It applies to the code marking of canned foods.

2 Normative references

This document has no normative references.

3 Terms and definitions

3.1 canned foods: canned products of commercial sterility made from fruit, vegetables, edible fungi, livestock and poultry meat, aquatic animals and similar raw materials, through processing, filling, sealing and heat sterilisation. The entry is sourced from QB/T 5218-2018, 2.2, modified.

4.1 Canned foods in metal containers with printed labels

For cans carrying a printed label and with a net content of 5 000 g or less, the code is printed or ink-jetted at the centre of the lid or base, or on a blank part of the label. For raw-material bulk cans carrying a typed label or a typed self-adhesive label, such as 9 kg or 18 kg cans of boiled bamboo shoots, the code is printed at the centre of the label, which is applied to the middle of the side of the can.

The code is arranged either in three lines or in two lines. In the three-line arrangement, the first line carries the factory name code and the shift code, the second line the year, month and day codes, and the third line the product name, variety and specification codes. In the two-line arrangement, the first line carries the factory name code, the shift code and the product name, variety and specification codes, and the second line the year, month and day codes.

4.2 Canned foods in lithographed metal containers

The code is printed or ink-jetted in two lines at the centre of the lid or base, and the product name code is not marked.

The two lines carry, in order, the factory name code with the shift code, and the year, month and day codes.

4.3 Canned foods in glass containers

The code is ink-jetted at the centre of the cap, on the side of the cap or on a blank part of the label, and the product name code is not marked.

When placed at the centre of the cap it is set in two lines, the first carrying the factory name code and the shift code and the second the year, month and day codes. When placed on the side of the cap it is set in a single line carrying the factory name code, the shift code and the year, month and day codes.

4.4 Canned foods in flexible packaging

The factory name code, the shift code and the year, month and day codes are ink-jetted on the retort pouch, the carton, the bag or the cup. For products whose packaging is opaque and not colour printed, the code is ink-jetted on the second line.

Raw-material bulk flexible cans, such as 200 L or 1 000 L tomato paste packs, carry a typed label or a typed self-adhesive label, printed with the code at the centre of the label and applied to the middle of the side of the outer drum or case, in three lines: the factory name code with the shift code; the year, month and day codes; and the product name, variety and specification codes.

5.1 Marking requirements

The ink-jetted or printed code has clear characters and a compact arrangement. For cans using a self-adhesive label, the type size of the code is conspicuous and the arrangement is even.

5.2 Factory name code

The factory name code is made up of the region code of Table 1 and an Arabic serial number.

Table 1 assigns the region codes as follows: Beijing A; Shanghai B; Liaoning C; Jilin D; Heilongjiang E; Inner Mongolia F, with serial numbers 1 to 49 and 101 to 149; Ningxia F, with serial numbers 50 to 100 and 150 to 200; Hebei G, with 1 to 59 and 101 to 159; Tianjin G, with 60 to 100 and 160 to 200; Shandong H; Henan I; Shaanxi J; Jiangsu K; Zhejiang L; Anhui M; Jiangxi N; Shanxi O; Hunan P; Fujian Q; Guangdong R, with 1 to 69 and 101 to 169; Hainan R, with 70 to 100 and 170 to 200; Guangxi S; Sichuan T, with 1 to 59 and 101 to 159; Chongqing T, with 60 to 100 and 160 to 200; Yunnan U; Guizhou V; Hubei W; Gansu X, with 1 to 49 and 101 to 149; Qinghai X, with 50 to 100 and 150 to 200; Xinjiang and Tibet Y; Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Z.

5.3 Product name code

The product name code divides canned foods into ten broad classes according to the kind of raw material used and the processed variety, the Arabic digits 0 to 9 being the leading digit of the class code, as given in Table 2.

Table 2 assigns the classes as follows: canned pork 0; canned beef, mutton and other livestock meat 1; canned poultry meat 2; canned fish in oil and in tomato sauce 3; canned braised fish and other seasoned fish 4; canned shellfish, shrimp, crab and algae 5; canned fruit in sugar water and in syrup 6; canned fruit jelly, jam, fruit juice, fruit purée and fruit beverage 7; canned vegetables and edible fungi 8; other canned foods 9.

5.4 Product variety code

The product variety code is numbered according to the requirements of Tables A.1 to A.10 of Annex A. When a new variety code has to be added, the leading digit stays unchanged and the remainder after the leading digit is increased by one, moving up a place; so a new variety added after 299 takes the code 2100.

5.5 Product specification code

The product specification code is numbered according to the requirements of Table A.11.

A.1 Product variety codes

The variety codes are divided into the following ten classes: canned pork variety codes, Table A.1; canned beef, mutton and other livestock meat variety codes, Table A.2; canned poultry meat variety codes, Table A.3; canned fish in oil and in tomato sauce variety codes, Table A.4; canned braised and other seasoned fish variety codes, Table A.5; canned shellfish, shrimp, crab and algae variety codes, Table A.6; canned fruit in sugar water and in syrup variety codes, Table A.7; canned fruit jelly, jam, fruit juice, fruit purée and fruit beverage variety codes, Table A.8; canned vegetables and edible fungi variety codes, Table A.9; other canned food variety codes, Table A.10.

Table A.1 lists the pork varieties against their codes in two paired columns of product name and variety code, running from canned pork in its own juice 01, canned ham pork 02, twice-cooked pork 03, braised sliced pork 04 and steamed pork 05 through to canned sweet and sour spare ribs 0127. A note to the table states that, to reduce the number of printed characters, the leading zero of pork variety codes from 01 to 099 need not be printed, so that canned pork in its own juice may be printed as 1 and canned luncheon meat as 8, while pork varieties with codes from 0100 onwards keep the leading zero.

Table A.2 lists the beef, mutton and other livestock meat varieties against codes running from 141 to 190, and Table A.3 lists the poultry meat varieties against codes running from 201 to 299, both again in paired columns of product name and variety code.