South Korea’s government has instructed local authorities to play a bigger role in the nation’s food supply strategy, as well as pumping in cash for new food tech and sustainability projects.
The Indian food regulator is being urged to include on-pack ‘warning labels’ for sugar, salt and fats as part of its upcoming health star rating system for packaged foods.
Japan has announced stricter labelling regulations for soybean milk and other soy-related beverages with the aim of preventing fraudulent or exaggerated claims and ensure fair competition between brands in the very competitive local market.
Officials have reached an agreement to improve access of certain Australian supplements to the Vietnamese market, after a bureaucratic dispute threatened to hit trade.
Food industry and policy experts have voiced doubts about the practical benefits of Indonesia’s new trade licensing policy, the Neraca Komoditas, which is kicking off this year for five major food commodities.
South Korea has chosen to focus on national staple food ramen as the first target for the enforcement of its new reduced sodium labelling rules, doubling down on the category by announcing the specific sodium values for manufacturers to adhere to.
Policy chiefs in the Philippines have circulated guidelines for food firms to eliminate the use of Trans-Fatty Acids (TFA) in pre-packaged processed foods by next year, including prohibiting the use of on-pack claims such as ‘TFA-free’.
The Ministry of Health in Japan has urged local food manufacturers to provide scientific evidence and proof of their products’ food safety credentials if they want to take advantage of new licensing exemptions for 17 food categories.
To guard its upcoming budget from soaring global wheat prices, the Egyptian government is considering scrapping a popular bread subsidy for cash payments – but this risks a repeat of history.
The South Korean government’s grand plans to overhaul local dairy policies and pricing systems have been met with major pushback from industry groups and confusion from farmers, with the ministry in charge calling on detractors to ‘clarify their misconceptions’...
Manufacturers of ‘solid beverages’ will need to follow a set of new rules, such as changing their product labels, to prevent consumers from confusing them as health foods or infant formula, said the Chinese authorities.
Researchers in Australia are calling for an overhaul over the regulations for toddler foods, claiming that 74% of products are ultra-processed, and that there has surge in discretionary snack launches over the past 25 years.
The Japanese government has published a new set of ‘fair transaction’ guidelines for the food manufacturing and retail sectors as it seeks to promote proper trading practices and prevent monopolies in the supply chain.
Japan is hopeful that the United Kingdom will lift bans on food imports from Fukushima following a positive risk assessment report, citing the benefits of reduced trade barriers and lower costs for the food sector.
About 93% of food products tested in Lebanon met the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for trans-fats, with some traditional snacks, baked goods and margarine the main culprits among the products that did not.
India’s hemp industry is predicting a wave of product innovation, from protein bars to flavoured powders and snacks, in the wake of recent regulatory advances that will see hemp seed, oil and flour products classed as food for the first time.
South Korea has expanded its food safety and monitoring guidelines to tighten control over food and beverage products that are directly purchased by consumers from foreign countries, with implications for items bought via e-commerce.
Regulator Food Standards Australia New Zealand is seeking public comment on the use of 2’-O-fucosyllactose (2’-FL) produced using new genetically modified (GM) strains in infant formula products.
From new hemp regulations in India, to Singapore’s sugary beverage control policy, and plant-based labelling in multiple countries, we bring you five must-know policies and regulations that look set to have a significant impact on the Asia Pacific food...
We reveal the top 10 most viewed regulation and policy stories from the food and beverage industry in 2021, featuring palm oil and halal in Malaysia, hemp and mustard oil in India, chilled foods in China and more.
South Korea has introduced an ‘S mark’ certification for food products that have undergone review and been approved as elderly-friendly, with products for the ageing population being dubbed a ‘future food’ category for the country.
Indonesia is looking to introduce new trade controls on imported processed foods including a revised application process subject to government approval as well as stricter mandatory shelf-life requirements.
The dairy industry in South Korea appears to have split opinions about the local government’s plans to implement a new pricing system for milk in order to improve profitability and boost the sector’s slumping self-sustainability.
South Korea is allowing vitamins, minerals, and supplements (VMS) to be made into more types of dosage forms, with jelly, film, and disintegrating tablets added into the list of permitted formats for VMS.
New Zealand’s food industry trade body will back plans put forward by Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) to update genetically modified food regulations, arguing the rules are not becoming less strict, but instead take into account recent tech...
The Chinese government has stepped up its anti-waste agenda with firms across the supply chain being required to prevent food waste and conserve food through its so-called ‘Food Conservation Action Plan’.
The Indonesian palm oil sector has urged the European Union to ensure that its final regulatory approach to imported commodities does not discriminate against palm oil, warning that efforts to replace it as an ingredient could lead to even ‘bigger problems’...
Taiwan is seeking to approve new regulations that will enforce tougher nutritional labelling regulations for all packaged foods in the country once implemented, in a bid to prevent ‘hidden’ or ‘implied’ messages from manufacturers regarding calorific...
Japan has urged all local food and beverage brands to ensure that processes are in place to transition to new origin of raw material rules, in order to keep operations running smoothly and avoid ‘disturbances’.
Sixty per cent of packaged non-alcoholic beverages (NABs) sold on the Singapore market contain high amounts of sugar and would be assigned under Grade C or D in the soon-to-be-implemented Nutri-Grade system.
A sustainable and plant-based diet is key to mitigate climate change, enhance food security and improve peoples’ health in the GCC, but guidelines need to be grounded in realism, a new report claims.
Regulators across Asia Pacific are paying more attention to the rapidly growing probiotic market and have introduced new policies to keep up with the category’s development, said regulatory specialists on the third day of our Probiota Asia digital summit.
Employing the use of Codex standards is crucial to achieving consensus for food safety standards harmonisation within the South East Asian region, according to a food safety expert from the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (UNFAO).
South Korea has unveiled new rules for using recycled material to make food packaging in an attempt to ‘prevent harm to the public’, while simultaneously pushing towards its 2030 plastic waste reduction goals.
Japan has laid out regulations for the labelling of plant-based products, with observers suggesting they are industry-friendly and should not pose problems for brands.
China has issued new, stricter packaging regulations covering food and cosmetics products to prevent what has been dubbed the ‘excessive packaging’ phenomenon, citing a need to prevent unnecessary extra costs to consumers and impacts on the environment.
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has highlighted that nutrition has emerged as one of the most pressing post-COVID-19 challenges to overcome for member nations to hit the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
South Korea has announced new, tighter standards for food firms looking to label their products as being reduced or lower in sodium or sugar, starting with the nation’s most-consumed food product, ramen.
Japanese F&B giants Ajinomoto and Meiji have called for more harmonised food regulations planned in collaboration with the food industry address local malnutrition problems as well as ‘big gaps’ with international standards.
China has proposed new changes to its management of Foods for Special Medical Purposes (FSMPs), such as prioritising the assessment and registration of products catered to patients suffering from rare diseases, as well as reducing the duration of product...
Taiwan has updated local food labelling laws to mandate the inclusion of specific information on the ‘minimum sales units’ of prepackaged foods, as well as added provisions to allow for the use of electronic labelling.
India’s Ministry of AYUSH has released a statement that advised against the use of ashwagandha leaves in Ayurveda and products for therapeutic purposes.
Indian plant-based dairy firms have taken to the courts to prevent their products from being delisted over the use of dairy terms, and are warning the battle will be long despite achieving an initial legal reprieve.
The New Zealand food and grocery industry has called for more restrictions to be placed on supermarkets’ private label products given the highly concentrated grocery retail market in the country, citing a potential ‘conflict of interest’ which could result...
The Chinese government has published formal food safety and consumption guidelines for products nearing their expiry dates, after a recently-implemented anti-food waste law increased sales.
South Korea Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) is stemming the advertising of fermented milk as products with health benefits, such as improving intestinal and immune health, in its latest crackdown on probiotic-related products.