The changes apply to vitamin and mineral tablets and capsules which are used as nutritional supplements.
The regulation is established under the provisions of Item 3 of Article 22 of the Food Safety and Sanitation Management Law (Regulations on Nutrition Labeling for Prepackaged Vitamin and Mineral Tablets and Capsules).
Change of format
It stipulates that the nutrition label must be presented in a vertical format on the package.
However, for products with surface area less than 100 cm2, nutrition label can be presented in a horizontal continuous table format.
Information on the nutrition label include the display of ‘nutrition label’ title, total number of servings per package, serving amount, daily reference value percentage, vitamin and mineral content.
Other nutrients such as protein, carbohydrates, calories, lipids, saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, sodium, and sugars are not mandatory and are voluntarily labeled by manufacturers.
Nutrient values
Secondly, nutrient values must now be expressed in Arabic numerals. Daily reference percentage value (DV) must also be presented per serving, and be labelled using whole integers or integers with one decimal point.
For products that daily nutrient intake reference value (RNI) has been set, it must be specified on the label.
For products without a set RNI value, it must be indicated as ‘Reference value not set’ after the DV.
If the physiological functions of the vitamins and minerals are indicated on the packaging, the minimum daily intake must be 15% of the daily reference percentage value.
Vitamins A, D, E should be labelled in the International Unit (IU), other vitamins and minerals are labeled in metric units. For example, vitamin A is expressed as RE (Retinol Equivalent), and vitamin E is expressed as a-TE (a-Tocopherol Equivalent).
The values of the compounds displayed must be derived from actual test analysis or calculations. All vitamins and minerals will have a range of allowable error, which can be obtained from Appendix 2.
Products must also contain a warning text that reads: ‘Do not exceed (number) of tablets or capsules a day” and “Excessive intake does not benefit health.” It must be displayed in an obvious section of the outer packaging.
According to Taiwan’s Commodity Labelling Act, all products sold in Taiwan must be labelled with the Chinese script, but may be supplemented in a foreign language as long as the Chinese labelling is no less comprehensive than that written in the language-of-origin.
For instance, vitamins “维生素” must be expressed in Chinese characters and “维生素C” cannot be indicated as “Vitamin C” in nutrition labeling, according to ChemLinked.