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September 2018

'About the flexible operation of food labeling following the 2018 floods in Japan'new

On July 13, 2018, the Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) notified relevant organizations that the food labeling standard would be operated flexibly in the disaster affected areas subject to the Disaster Relief Act (under a joint statement with the Ministry of Agriculture, .........more

August 2018

The amended Food Sanitation Act was published

On June 13, 2018, a law to amend parts of the Food Sanitation Act was published. It has attracted much attention as: - sanitation management by HACCP became mandatory for all food business operators (including restaurants).........more

July 2018

"The guideline for nutrition labeling based on the food labeling standard, 2nd edition" was published

On May 11, 2018, the Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) published "the 2nd edition for the guidelines for nutrition labeling based on the food labeling standard." The structure was significantly altered from the 1st edition, which was published at the same time as the new food labeling standard..........more

June 2018

Labeling for available carbohydrates and sugars

Available carbohydrates and sugars were added as a part of the widening of target functional ingredients/substances on March 28th. In regards to this, we will review the labeling system for available carbohydrates and sugars in Japan..........more

June 2018

The "Guidelines on notification of foods with function claims" were amended

The Consumer Affairs Agency (CAA) partly amended the “guidelines on notification of foods with function claims” (hereinafter referred to as the “guidelines”) and “Q&A about foods with function claims.” on March 28, 2018. .........more

May 2018

Discussions on the labeling system for genetically modified food 5~"Non-GM" labeling requirements and mentions showing that foods were treated under proper identity preserved handling~

Once more, we would like to feature the labeling system for genetically modified foods in our monthly publication. The 10th "discussion on the labeling system for genetically modified food" was held on March 14, 2018. .........more

April 2018

Discussions on the labeling system for genetically modified food 4~Currently discussed major points of amendment and summary of the current system~

The 8th and 9th “discussions on the labeling system for genetically modified food” (Consumer Affairs Agency) were held respectively on January 31, 2018 and February 16, 2018. The preliminary draft of the “report on the discussion on the labeling system for genetically modified food .........more

March 2018

Discussions on the labeling system for genetically modified food 3~The guidelines regarding how to label genetically modified food were discussed~

The 6th “discussion on the labeling system for genetically modified food” was held on November 17, 2017 and the 7th one was held on December 18, 2017. Discussions regarding “The methods of labeling genetically modified food” (point of debate 3 and 4, as follows) are still going on, .........more

February 2018

Food label news: Highlights of 2017 and upcoming schedules

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Label bank Newsletter thanks to your support. We have continued publishing this newsletters modestly throughout the years, but it feels that time flies by so quickly. We truly hope you will continue reading our publications this year as well. .........more

January 2018

About the new Country of Origin Labeling system for ingredients and "actions causing substantial changes"

The Food Labeling Standard Q&A was amended on September 1, 2017, and more detailed information about the "produced domestically" mention for the country of origin labeling (hereafter COOL) is written in it. This time we will try to summarize all aspects of the .........more

December 2017

Discussions on the labeling system for genetically modified food 2~The debated issues have been summarized and the scope of mandatory labeling discussed~

The fifth "public discussion on Genetically Modified Food Labeling” was held by the CAA (Consumer Affairs Agency) on September 27, 2017. Issues debated during the public discussion on the labeling system for genetically modified (GM) food situation.........more

November 2017

Expansion of Labeling Requirements for Processed Foods: Origin of Ingredients (9)~The Q&A section of "the new COOL system for ingredients" was revised~

On September 1, 2017, the Food Labeling Standard was amended and "the new COOL (Country of origin labeling) system for ingredients" started. At the same time, the Q&A section of the Food Labeling Standard was.........more

October 2017

About the start of animal quarantine for dairy products

On November 1, animal quarantines for dairy products will start. Since we thought this is also important information in regards with quality checking for people who are in charge of food labeling (in a context of increasing integration of the Japanese market in international trades), we will inform about this topic this month..........more

September 2017

Expansion of Labeling Requirements for Processed Foods: Origin of Ingredients (8) ～The amended draft was mostly approved～

On July 28, 2017, a Consumer Commission Food Labeling Section Meeting was held, and the commission members basically agreed on the amended draft. Although the report included partial revisions and preconditions,.........more

August 2017

Expansion of Labeling Requirements for Processed Foods: Origin of Ingredients (7) ~Result of public comments released~

On June 8, 2017, a Consumer Commission Food Labeling Section Meeting was held. Since then, they have been discussing the public comments made on the amendment of the new COOL system for ingredients, .........more

July 2017

Discussions on the labeling system for genetically modified food

The theme for this month's newsletter is "Genetically Modified Food Labeling"- discussions on expanding the scope of this mandatory labeling has been held since April. .........more

June 2017

Food Labeling in Japan and overseas

Thank you for always reading our newsletter. This month we would like to start with reviewing the recent changes in the Japanese food labeling system, one of the most covered subjects in our newsletter. .........more

April 2017

Expansion of Labeling Requirements for Processed Foods: Origin of Ingredients (6)~Public comment period opened~

On March 27, 2017, the government has invited the public to comment (hereafter, public comment) on the proposed Cabinet Office Ordinance to amend part of the Food Labeling Standard. .........more

March 2017

Basic information concerning current country of origin labeling

The first two months of the year have flown by and we are into March now. In terms of food labeling, we got the impression that "country of origin labeling (COOL)" becoming mandatory "for all processed food" has still been a major topic of discussion in Japan during the last few months. .........more

February 2017

Provision of information on food products sold online

At the end of 2016, the Consumer Affairs Agency published an advisory committee report on provision of information on food products sold online. Along with some other proposals, the Report presents survey results of consumers and business operators,.........more

January 2017

Food label news: Highlights of 2016 and upcoming schedules

Happy New Year! This year marks 9 years since the first Label bank newsletter was issued, and as always we thank you for your continued readership. The year 2016 saw a variety of events relating to food labels, and we would like to once again summarize them in this newsletter..........more

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