Monthly Archives: June 2022

“Japanese Agricultural Standard for Miso” established (Japan)

On March 31, 2022, the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries (MAFF) newly established Japanese Agricultural Standard (JAS) for “Miso”. We would like to touch on its contents this time.

Perhaps surprisingly, there was no JAS for Miso until this establishment. The reason for this is that there is a variety of Miso in Japan, and it was difficult to standardize the quality of the various types of Miso. (The new JAS does not include compositional standards, but production methods of Miso) When looking at overseas markets, exports of Miso have been on an upward trend because of the spread of Japanese food culture and also Miso is listed as a priority export item in Japan. On the other hand, not much is known about what Miso is in the overseas market, considering the fact that foreign products imitating Miso are sold alongside Japanese Miso, and some Chinese soybean sauce and Korean Doenjang products are labeled as “みそ(EN: Miso)” or “Miso”, which can be confused with Japanese Miso. Under these circumstances, in order to strengthen the competitiveness of Japanese Miso in overseas markets, JAS for Miso was established to specify the traditional production methods.

Regarding the definition

Under Food Labeling Standards, Miso has been able to be sold with the name “Miso” if it satisfies the following definitions.

Those listed below in a semi-solid state :

  1. The one mixed either the following with salt and then fermented and matured
    -Steamed soybeans or steamed soybeans and grains such as rice, wheat, etc., added with steamed grains such as rice, wheat, etc., cultured with Koji mould
    -Soybeans steamed and cultured with Koji mould or to which steamed grains such as rice, wheat, etc. are added
  2. Foods to which sugar (meaning sugar, molasses, and sugars), flavor ingredients (meaning dried bonito, dried fish, powdered or extract concentrates of kelp, etc., fish soy sauce, hydrolyzed protein, yeast extract, and other similar foodstuffs. The same applies in Paragraph for Miso in Appended Table 4), etc. are added

* Followed by “Rice Miso”, “Barley Miso”, “Soybean Miso”, and “Mixed Miso”.

As for the definition of Miso in the JAS, a supplementary note has been added to “semi-solid state” as “something that does not flow and collapse when served on a plate.”, which is consistent with Food Labeling Standards. Therefore, when the product is sold as “Miso” based on the definition of Food Labeling Standards, the product is considered to be able to be certified as JAS by satisfying the requirements stated below.
On the other hand, other than the definition of Miso itself, a more detailed definition has been provided for the so-called “Koji”, since it is a basis of the traditional Miso production process in Japan. Koji is obtained from rice, barley or other grains steamed and added with cultured Koji mould, or soybeans steamed and added with cultured Koji mould.” This definition will be related to the requirements described below.

Seed Koji(Koji starter)

“This type is added for the purpose of supplying Koji mould when producing Koji, and it is produced with either of the processes as below:
-Dry with rice etc. on which spores(conidiospores) are epiphytic that are generated with inoculating and culturing Kouji mould into/on the rice etc.
-Separate only the spores mentioned above by sieving

*1 In general, the former is called “Granular Seed Koji” and the latter “Powdered Seed Koji.
*2 Excipients such as starch may be mixed in Seed Koji.

Koji

Grains such as rice and barley, soybeans, or their by-products [bran, rice bran, etc.] on which microorganisms are propagated.

Bara(loose) Koji

Among Koji, the one obtained by adding Seed Koji to steamed grains such as rice, and barley and cultivating Koji mould, which retains its original granular form

Rice Koji

Among Bara Koji, the one obtained by adding Seed Koji to steamed rice and cultivating Koji mould.

Barley Koji

Among Bara Koji, the one obtained by adding Seed Koji to steamed barley or hulless barley and cultivating Koji mould

Soybean Koji

Among Koji, the one obtained by adding Seed Koji to steamed soybeans and cultivating Koji mould

*There are two types of Koji: those that retain their original granular form (Soybean Bara Koji) and those that are crushed into a ball-like mass (Miso Tama Koji).

Requirements for standard labeling

The requirements of JAS for Miso are as follows.

Koji mould to be used

Koji mould used in the production of Miso shall be Aspergillus oryzae.

Koji

Koji used for the production of Miso shall be Bara Koji or Soybean Koji.

Management of seed Koji and production of Miso during the process

1 Management of seed Koji

Seed Koji must be managed properly not to mix with any other Koji cultures than Aspergillus oryzae from the time when management for the accepted Seed Koji is initiated until it is used in the production of Miso.

2 Management of Miso during the production process

Miso during the production process must be managed properly so that it is not mixed with the one cultured with Koji moulds other than Aspergillus oryzae or any other fermented products with them.

Production methods

Miso must be produced to conform to its definition.

Aspergillus oryzae, Aspergillus sojae, Aspergillus tamarii, and other Koji moulds are used to produce Miso. The JAS requires to choose only one of these types and to manage not to mix with other Koji moulds.

The above is a brief overview of JAS for Miso. The objective of strengthening competitiveness in overseas markets is behind it, so if you are considering exporting Miso, it would be worthwhile to apply for the Standards. We hope you find this information useful.

References

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Research Services on Ingredients & Food Labeling -For the Japanese Market-
We verify the conformity of ingredients and additives with the standards for use in Japan based on specifications such as formulation lists. We also verify the conformity of the proposed labeling of ingredient names, nutrients, etc. with the labeling standards based on specifications such as formulation lists.

Fact finding survey results on labeling for the country of origin of ingredients released (Japan)~and regarding improvement of the legibility of allergen labeling~

On March 28, 2022, the Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) published the “The FY 2021 Results of a fact-finding survey on new labeling system for country of origin of ingredients for processed foods”. New labeling system for countries of origin of ingredients started with the revision of Food Labeling Standards in September 2017, and the new system was introduced in April 2022 after the completion of the transitional period. We would like to organize the published survey results here so that we can take the opportunity to look back on the system revision and subsequent labeling.

Summary of the survey

The fact-finding survey was launched in 2019, and this is the third time it has been conducted so far. The summary of the past three surveys is as follows. There are three survey items related to labeling for countries of origin of ingredients in common, while the other items seem to be surveyed as required by year.

  FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021
Date July 29, 2019 July 27, 2020 July 27, 2021
Location Supermarket in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture
Subjects (breakdown)

1,514 items on the second shelf from the top of each store shelf

(Breakdown: 1,349 domestically made (in Japan) products and 165 imported products)

1,349 items on the second shelf from the top of each store shelf

(Breakdown: 1,231domestically made (in Japan) products and 118 imported products)

1,744 items on the second shelf from the top of each store shelf

(Breakdown: 1,458 domestically made (in Japan) products and 286 imported products)
Survey items (1) Whether the country of origin of ingredients is indicated or not
(2) Grounds acts/ordinances, etc. on labeling countries of origin of ingredients
(3) Labeling methods based on new labeling system for country of origin of ingredients
(4) Implementation status of labeling based on Food Labeling Standards (4) Status of initiatives of the legibility improvement of allergen labeling
  (5) Status of non-use labeling, etc. for food additives  
Method of the surveys Confirm labeling place of mandatory labeling items (collective labeling frame) and claims labeling, etc. on containers and packaging by taking pictures with a digital camera.

Whether the country of origin of ingredients is indicated or not

The summary of the past three surveys is as follows. The results of the survey on “no labeling of the country of origin of ingredients” in FY2021 may be due to the fact that there were approximately six months remaining until the end of the transitional period when the survey was conducted (in many cases, mainly foods with a short shelf life were switched to the new labeling system after September 2021).

  FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021
The country of origin of ingredients is indicated 494 627 1,122
The country of origin of ingredients is not indicated 855 602 332
Total 1,349 1,229* 1,454*

* Excluding processed foods consisting solely of additives (2 items in 2020 and 4 items in 2021).

Grounds acts/ordinances for products with labeling for the countries of origin of ingredients

See the following result: “②New labeling for countries of origin of ingredients” has increased the most for the three years of the survey period, which indicates that many foods were subject to new labeling system for the first time.

Labeling method for products with new labeling for countries of origin of ingredients

See the following result: Labeling in descending order of weight by country is indicated the most.

When the subject ingredients are fresh foods

  FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021
① Conventional labeling for countries of origin of ingredients
(Appended Table 15 Food Labeling Standards)		 91 88 87
② New labeling for countries of origin of ingredients
(Article 3 Food Labeling Standards (excluding Appended Table 15))		 274 457 892
③ The Rice Traceability Act 99 55 98
④ Law Concerning Liquor Business Associations and Measures for securing Revenue from Liquor Tax 14 11 26
⑤ Fair Competition Code 15 14 18
⑥ Industry guidelines, etc. 1 2 1
Total 494 627 1,122

When the subject ingredients are processed foods

  FY 2019 FY 2020 FY 2021
Labeling for place of origin (labeling in descending order of weight by country) 131 161 244
Labeling for the place of origin (“And/Or” labeling)* 2 6 21
Labeling for the place of origin (“All inclusive” labeling) * 2 8 9
Labeling for the place of origin (“All inclusive” labeling & “And/Or” labeling ) 0 0 8
Total 135 175 282

* “And/Or” labeling: A labeling method listing potential supplying countries as countries of origin of ingredients in descending order by weight based on the past records or the future plans on ingredients use for a defined period of time in the past or in the future, whose country names will be connected with “or.”
* “All inclusive” labeling: A labelling method for bundling foreign supplying countries together in a category classed as “import”.

Regarding improvement of the legibility of allergen labels

Finally, here are some excerpts from the results of the survey on improvement of the legibility of allergen labels, which was conducted only in FY 2021.

The labeling method among products that have an indication of allergens within the collective labeling frame

  Number of products
Individual labeling* 445
Collective labelling* 588
Total 1,033

* “Individual labeling”: A labeling method stating that specified allergens (mandatory labeling items for allergens in Japan) are included in parentheses immediately after the names of each ingredient/additive are labeled.
*“Collective labeling”: A labeling method in which “(一部に○○・○○・…を含む) (EN: partially contains XX・XX・… ) ” is labeled at the end of the ingredient column (when the ingredients and additives are listed separately by providing respective columns, the end of the ingredient column and the end of the additive column, respectively).

Presence/absence of claims for allergen outside collective labeling frame

  Number of products
Presence of labeling 598
Absence of labeling 435
Total 1,033

Presence/absence of the labeling scope (number of subject items) among allergen claims outside the collective frame

  Number of products
Labeling indicating “only specified allergens”* 7
Labeling indicating “specified allergens, etc. “* 534
Absence of labeling 57
Total 598

 Examples of “labeling scope of allergens (number of items subject to allergen labeling)”
-Labeling indicating “only specified allergens” (mandatory labeling items for allergens in Japan): “Seven mandatory labeling allergens are in the scope”, “Allergens (only mandatory labeling items for allergens)”, etc.
-Labeling indicating “specified allergens, etc. “(mandatory & voluntary labeling items for allergens in Japan): “28 allergens are in the labeling scope”, “Allergens (28 items)”, etc.

    Presence/absence of “labeling indicating no specified allergens are used” on products that do not have an indication of allergens within the collective labeling frame

      Number of products
    Presence of labeling 47
    Absence of labeling 410
    Total 457

    Other survey results can be found such as “labeling methods for characters for products with allergen claims outside the collective labeling frame (“colour of characters”, “size of characters”, “thickness of characters” and “presence/absence of underlining” compared with the characters in the collective labeling frame)”

    Regarding labeling methods for countries of origin of ingredients, I think that it is only a grasp of the actual situation. Allergen labeling, however, includes information on the labeling scope of allergens and how to indicate the characters, which may provide you with hints for future improvements.

    References

    “Results of fact-finding survey on new labeling system for country of origin of ingredients for processed foods” (CAA)

    Newsletter Signup

    We issue monthly e-newsletters, which provide you with the latest updates on food labeling/regulations in Japan.
    If you want to make sure to not miss any issue, please click below.

    Related Service

    Research Services on Ingredients & Food Labeling -For the Japanese Market-
    We verify the conformity of ingredients and additives with the standards for use in Japan based on specifications such as formulation lists. We also verify the conformity of the proposed labeling of ingredient names, nutrients, etc. with the labeling standards based on specifications such as formulation lists.