Official FAQ: Common Questions on China National Standards for Food Safety-Pathogenic Bacteria Limits

Recently, China CFSA has issued FAQs regarding National Standards for Food Safety. From our years of regulatory compliance experience, we’ve translated a selection of some frequently asked questions relating to the limits of pathogenic bacteria in food to help you better understand the current requirements in China.

Q1: What is the meaning of “ready-to-eat food” and “non-ready-to-eat food” mentioned in the National Standards for Food Safety-Pathogenic Bacteria Limits in Prepackaged Foods (GB 29921-2021)?

A1: “Ready-to-eat food” refers to food that is provided to consumers and can be consumed directly without further bacteriostatic treatment, such as potato chips, chocolate, hawthorn cake, etc. “Non-ready-to-eat food” refers to food that requires further cooking, such as fresh and frozen livestock and poultry products.

Q2: Does “soybean isolate protein” belong to the category of “ready-to-eat soybean products” under GB 29921-2021?

A2: The ready-to-eat soybean products in GB 29921-2021 include non-fermented soybean products, fermented soybean products and soybean protein products. “soybean isolate protein” is a non-ready-to-eat soybean product, which does not belong to the category of “ready-to-eat soybean products” in the standard.

Q3: GB 29921-2021 has deleted the expressions “the first method” and “the second method” from the provisions on the test methods for staphylococcus aureus, so how to choose the test method in the actual testing process?

A3: The deletion does not affect the choice of test methods, because inspectors can make the judgement with the reference on the limits of the specific unit. For example, when the limit unit is “CFU/g”, the plate count method should be adopted; when the limit unit is “0/25g” or “not detected in 25g”, the qualitative method should be adopted; when the limit unit is “MPN/g”, MPN counting method should be adopted.

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Further Information

Food FAQ: Compilation of Common Questions Regarding China National Standards for Food Safety- General Questions

Official FAQ: Common Questions on China National Standards for Food Safety - Limits of Contaminants and Mycotoxins in Food