Newsletter
We issue monthly e-newsletters, which keep you up to date with the latest developments surrounding food labeling in Japan.
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Past issues
- November 2018
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Discussions about the "overall situation of food labeling" have startednew
On August 30, 2018, discussions about the "overall situation of food labeling" started at the food labeling committee of the Cabinet Office's Consumer Commission. Therefore, we would like to feature it in this month's entry. .........more
- October 2018
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"Liquid infant formula" was added to food for special dietary use.
On August 8, 2018, the regulation "About license of labeling for food for special dietary use" (March 31, 2017 No. 188) was partly amended and "liquid infant formula" was added to the list of foods for special dietary use. .........more
- September 2018
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'About the flexible operation of food labeling following the 2018 floods in Japan'
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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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
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
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
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
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
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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
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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