Proposed change to the way of applying labelling rules for spices used as ingredients (Japan)

On January 21, 2025, the 8th Subcommittee on Reviewing Labelling Rules for Each Individual Item* 2025 (Japanese) (hereinafter referred to as “the Subcommittee”) was held. In this article I would like to take up the proposed change in labelling rules application for spices used as ingredients. The proposed change in the application of cross-sectional labelling… more »

Trends in plant-based food labelling standards in various countries

In January 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) released Labeling of Plant-Based Alternatives to Animal-Derived Foods: Draft Guidance for Industry. I’d like to provide an overview of the latest trends in plant-based food labelling regulations across various countries, viewed from Japan. The U.S. As mentioned above, the guidance on alternatives for animal-derived foods… more »

3rd Discussion on Japan’s Front-of Package Nutrition Labelling 2025

On December 24, 2024, the 3rd Discussion on the Japan’s of Front-of-Package Nutrition Labelling (FOPNL) 2024 (in Japanese) was held. Based on a survey of current nutrition labelling practices for processed foods (in Japanese), the discussion meeting addressed the following points.– Handling of foods where nutrient values cause deviations between “as sold” and “as consumed”… more »

Draft Amendments to the Food Labelling Standards and the Classification of Cashew Nuts and Pistachios as Allergens (Japan)

The draft amendments to the Food Labelling Standards (in Japanese), scheduled to be implemented in April 2025, have been published. The public comments for the amendments have been collected up to January 28. As for allergen labelling, the 7th Advisors’ Meeting on Food Allergen (21 January, 2025) (in Japanese) proposed that cashew nuts be included… more »

Summary of the status of legal changes on food labelling in Japan (2)~ Amendment of the Standard Values for Nutritional Labelling and Progress Report on Reviewing Labelling Rules for Individual Food Items (Categories)~

This article continues the previous article, Summary of the status of legal changes on food labelling in Japan (1). The Food Labelling Advisory Committee (held on 13 December 2024) (Japanese) reviewed the draft amendment to the standard values for nutritional labelling. At the meeting, the progress of reviewing the labelling rules for each individual food… more »

Guidance on how to label plant-based egg-like products (plant-based alternatives to egg products) in Canada

Following the results of a public consultation that ran from 29 July 2024 to 28 October 2024, the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) proposed a guidance on 29 October 2024 regarding how plant-based foods (alternatives to egg products) should be labelled in Canada. Guidance overview This guidance only covers plant-based egg substitutes that do not… more »

Study on the Use of Digital Tools for Food Labeling

On October 1, 2024, the “First Subcommittee Meeting to Study the Use of Digital Tools for Food Labeling” (hereinafter referred to as the “Subcommittee Meeting”) was held. During this first gathering, the current status of the use of digital tools in Japan and abroad, as well as current issues related to them were discussed. In… more »

Current food waste issues triggered by expiry date labeling, Proposed legislation to uniform food expiry date labelling in California/USA, and General Situation around the world (including Japan)

On 28 September 2024, the State of California, USA, announced that a bill to uniform food expiry date labelling had been signed. Until now, the state has allowed for the use of “Sell by”, “Best by/before”, ‘Expired by’ as well as other recommended labelling methods such as “Best if Used By” and “Use By”, when… more »